* 


GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY 


8BUECTKD    VBOM 


THE  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 


TALMAGE,   BEECHER,    MOODY,   SPURGEON, 
GUTHRIE   AND   PARKER. 


REV.  CHARLES  C.  ALBERT  SON, 


—WITH  AN  INTEODUOT10N  BY— 


HENRY    B.     RIDGAWAY.    D.    D. 


COPYRIGHT  1888. 
BY 

BHODES  &  MCCLURE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

CHICAGO. 

1896. 


Tn  Ha  HEHF  Mniher. 


WHO 

WITH    THE 

GENTLENESS      OF 

AFFECTION     AND     THE 

PATIENCE  OF  LOVE,  INSTILL- 

ED INTO   MY  MIND   A    REGARD    FOR 

TRUTH    AND  BEAUTY  IN  WORD  AND  ACT, 

THIS  LITTLE  VOLUME  18  DEDICATED  BY  ONE  WHO 

HAS  BEEN  STRENGTHENED   IN  FAITH,   EN- 

RICHED IN  THE  GRACE  OF  GOD,  AND 

ADVANCED  IN  THE  KNOWLEDGE 

OF  A  BLESSED    CHRIST, 

BY    THE     WORDS 

CONTAINED 

HERJC- 

m. 


in 


The  age  in  which  we  live  demands  both  variety  and 
brevity  in  much  that  we  read.  People  wish  to  compass 
many  subjects  in  the  shortest  time.  This  disposition  arises 
largely,  no  doubt,  from  the  necessities  and  opportunities 
of  our  civilization.  The  improved  appliances  of  business, 
the  increased  facilities  for  travel,  and  the  wonderful  rapid- 
ity with  which  we  gather  information,  render  it  indispens- 
able that  there  be  periodicals,  and  at  least  some  books 
which  present  the  freshest  and  best  thoughts  in  convenient 
and  concise  form. 

The  pages  of  "GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY,"  show 
it  to  be  a  book  of  this  kind.  The  author  has  skillfully  se- 
lected from  some  of  the  greatest  preachers,  among  the  dead 
and  living,  many  of  their  choicest  sayings.  Some  of  these 
sayings  are  the  result  of  the  most  careful  elaboration  in 
the  study,  others  are  the  sudden  flashes  of  inspiration  in 
moments  of  high  excitement;  but  whether  coming  to  their 
originators  suddenly  or  slowly,  they  have  back  of  them 
the  power  of  experience  and  culture.  Thus,  the  reader 
of  this  volume,  if  seated  in  the  quiet  of  his  house,  or 
rushing  over  the  country  at  lightning  speed,  can  commune 
with  the  best  thoughts  of  Guthrie,  Beecher,  Spurgeon, 
Parker,  Talmage  and  Moody,  and  feel  something  of  the 
glow  which  these  men  have  imparted  to  the  audiences 


2064876 


n 


vj<^t  —  ^-^     s*-" 

r 


rf 


'fa^rto>*3r\ 
/- — •*— ^ 

\ 


<££tx>" 


*2/<2^L«/    <Z^L><^<-9    *L-  . 

/  ^  -     > 


/     / 

eA, 

/ 


Bmgrephical  Sketches, 


T.  DE  WITT  TALMAGE,  D.D. 


The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  New  Jersey  in  1832.  He  was 
the  youngest  of  a  family  of  twelve  children.  His  parents  were  persons 
of  pure  Christian  character,  the  fruits  of  whose  judicious  training  were 
manifest  in  the  conversion  of  DeWitt  when  eighteen  years  of  age.  He 
received  his  literary  training  in  the  University  of  New  York,  and  after- 
ward graduated  from  the  theological  school  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 
The  first  three  years  of  his  ministerial  career  were  spent  in  Belleville, 
N.  J.,  from  whence  he  was  called  to  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  After  laboring 
here  three  years,  he  went  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  seven 
years,  during  which  time  he  earned  a  high  place  among  the  preachers 
of  that  city.  His  congregations  were  large,  and  his  church  rapidly  in- 
creased in  membership  until  it  became  widely  known  as  the  popular 
church  of  the  city.  Many  large  and  important  congregations  were  now 
extending  calls  to  him.  He  accepted  a  call  from  the  Central  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  Brooklyn,  then  in  a  state  of  decline,  in  preference  to 
others,  because  he  saw  in  Brooklyn  an  opportunity  to  build  up  a  free 
church. 

At  the  end  of  a  year  and  a  half  the  old  edifice  could  no  longer  accom- 
modate the  congregations,  and  a  tabernacle  was  built,  and  dedicated  in 
September,  1870.  This  building  which  originally  was  designed  to  seat 
3,000  persons,  was  enlarged  a  few  months  later.  Just  before  the  hour 
of  service,  December  22,  1872,  the  tabernacle  was  burned.  In  a  few 
minutes,  several  churches  were  offered  to  the  congregation  for  oc- 


lose  the  rein*  of  prudeno*.  The  temperament  which  God  gave  a  man 
most  be  considered  in  judging  him;  and,  considering  that  of  Mr. 
Beecher,  also  the  multitude  of  things  that  he  has  said,  and  is  forever  say- 
ing, it  ia  a  proof  that  he  possesses  a  remarkable  share  of  discretion  that 
he  has  said  so/fir  imprudent  things  as  he  has  said." 

Mr.  Beecher  was  the  most  out-and-out  American  preacher  our  times 
have  produced.  His  congregation,  the  Plymouth  Church,  was  not  only 
a  sincerely  religious  organization,  but  a  deeply  patriotic  one  as  well.  It 
will  go  down  in  history  as  such.  In  the  pulpit  of  that  church  national 
battles  were  fought,  and  national  victories  won. 

The  preacher's  life  and  character  have  become  so  well-known,  and, 
since  his  death.  March  18,  1887,  so  many  rich  eulogies  have  been  pro- 
nounced upon  him  that  his  is  a  name  which  needs  no  encomium.  The 
world  knows  him.  The  world  reveres  his  name. 


CHARLES  H.  SPURGEON. 


Charles  H.  Spurgeon  was  born  at  Kelvedon,  in  Essex,  June  19,  1834. 
He  came  of  a  clerical  ancestry,  his  father  and  grandfather  both  being 
ministers.     He  received  his  early  education  at  Colchester,  and  also  spent 
a  year  in  the  Agricultural  College  at  Maidstone,  where  he  obtained  some 
knowledge  of  the  sciences.     He  then  engaged  as  usher  in  a  school  at 
Newmarket,  after  which  he  moved  to  Cambridge  and  served  in  a  similar 
capacity  in  a  day  school,  all  the  while  employing  his  leisure  in  improv- 
ing his  own  mind.     He  began,  while  at  Newmarket,  to  make  Sunday- 
school  addresses,  and  it  is  said  that  he  did  it  in  a  manner  to  attract  older 
persons.     At  Cambridge  he  continued  the  custom,  and  also  began  to  give 
Sunday-school  sermons  in  surrounding  villages.     A  small  Baptist  church 
at  Waterbeach  extended  the  young  preacher  a  call,  to  be  its  pastor.     He 
accepted  the  invitation,  and  during  a  short  ministry  the  church  was 
doubled.     In  January,  1854,  when  Mr.  Spurgeon  was  but  twenty  years 
old,  he  was  invited  to  accept  the  pastorate  of  New  Park  Street  Chapel  in 
London.     He  immediately  began  a  career  of  Christian  endeavor  in  that 
city  which  surpasses  the  record  of  almost  any  modern  apostle  we  could 
name.     Coming  to  the  busy  city  fresh  from  quiet  fields  of  study,  observ- 
ation and  thought,  with  a  vigor  and  power  of  expression,  startling  in 
their  novelty,  he  at  once  arrested  the  attention  of  the  people.     Throngs 
came  out  to  hear  him.     The  church  must  be  enlarged,  and  in  order  to 
accommodate  the  eager  multitudes,  he  preached  many  sermons  in  the 
open  air  to  fifteen  thousand  persons,  and  often  in  Exeter  Hall  to  more 
than  that  number.     Beginning  his  public  career  thus  early  in  life,  public 
interest  in  him  has  not  for  a  moment  waned.     He  is  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel  in  its  simplicity,  and  an  orator  of  wonderful  power.     His  pulpit 
work  is  supplemented  by  vast  philanthropic  and  charitable  enterprises, 
asylums,  orphanages  and  schools.    His  published  works  are  many,  among 
which  are   "John  Ploughman's  Talks,"  "John  Ploughman's  Pictures, " 
"Commenting  and  Commentaries,"  ''Gleanings  among  the  Sheaves,"  be- 


aide  ten  volumes  of  sermons.  Perhaps  the  best  known  and  most  highly 
valued  literary  work  of  Mr.  Spurgeon  is  his  "Treasury  of  David,"  an  ex- 
haustive and  helpful  treatise  on  the  Psalms. 

Mr.  Spurgeon's  career  has  been  phenomenal  from  his  youthful  entrance 
into  the  ministry  until  to-day.  The  work  he  has  done  for  the  Master  in 
bringing  souls  to  know  Christ,  and  in  strengthening  believers  in  the  faith 
will  never  be  fully  known  until  eternity. 


DWIGHT  L.  MOODY. 


Dwight  L.  Moody,  whose  name  shall  be  immortal  in  history  as  the 
Evangelist  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  was  born  at  Northfield,  Mass., 
February  5,  1837.  His  early  home  was  a  large  frame-house  a  little  dis- 
tance from  the  town.  His  father,  by  farming  a  few  acres,  and  working 
at  his  trade,  which  was  that  of  a  stone-mason  was  enabled  to  earn  a 
comfortable  living  for  his  family,  in  which  there  were  seven  children, 
of  whom  Dwight  was  the  youngest.  Financial  losses  from  an  unfortu- 
nate business  enterprise,  were  followed  by  the  sudden  death  of  the 
father,  when  Dwight  was  but  four  years  old.  A  month  later  a  twin  boy 
and  girl  were  born.  But  Mrs.  Moody  bore  with  a  brave  heart  the  weight 
of  the  family  cares  which  were  enough  to  crush  an  ordinary  woman, 
and  steadfastly  refused  to  part  from  any  of  her  children. 

From  this  early  training  of  poverty  and  self-denial,  Dwight  grew  up 
a  sturdy,  healthy,  self-reliant  boy.  He  was  so  full  of  animal  spirits,  and 
liked  fun  so  much  more  than  study,  that  his  record  in  school  was  poor. 
Yet  he  was  in  no  sense  stupid.  He  was  observant,  watchful,  and  sus- 
ceptible to  lessons  learned  from  real  life  or  nature. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  set  off  from  Northfield  with  a  little  money, 
to  seek  his  fortune  in  Boston.  After  considerable  search  for  employ- 
ment, his  uncle,  Samuel  S.  Holton,  a  shoe  merchant  agreed  to  hire  him 
at  a  small  salary.  He  soon  became  an  attendant  at  the  Congregational 
Church.  Through  the  direct  personal  effort  of  his  teacher  in  the  Sun- 
day-school he  was  converted,  and  gave  himself  to  the  service  of  God. 
At  the  age  of  twenty,  Mr.  Moody  left  Boston  for  Chicago,  in  order  that 
he  might  have  a  more  extended  field  of  opportunity  for  working  in  the 
Master's  cause.  He  found  it.  As  teacher  in  Sunday-school,  as  Btreet- 
solicitor  for  scholars,  as  mission-worker  among  sailors,  visitor  to  prisons 
%od  hospitals,  his  work  was  constant  and  self-denying.  A  little  later  he 
nired  a  vacant  room  in  a  degraded  portion  of  the  city,  and,  gathering 


aronnd  him  crowds  of  abandoned  men  and  women,  and  unfortunate 
children,  he  preached  the  gospel  to  them  and  saved  many  souls.  A  large 
room  became  necessary,  and  within  a  year  the  average  attendance  at 
hi*  Sunday-school  was  650. 

About  the  year  1860,  Mr.  Moody  resolved  to  give  himself  up  to  the 

labor  of  saving  souls,  and  to  devote  his  entire  time  to  the  work  of  an 

.ngelist.    A  little  later,  he  was  made  city  missionary  of  the  Young 

Men's  Christian  Association,  and  immediately  began  to  make  longer  tours 

over  the  city  assisting  destitute  families,  and  praying  with  many. 

In  1861,  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war  extended  the  sphere  of  his  ac- 
tivities. He  became  active  in  the  organisation  of  a  system  of  visitation 
and  prayer-meetings  among  the  troops  gathered  in  Camp  Douglas,  near 
the  city  of  Chicago.  After  the  fall  of  Donelson,  in  February,  1862,  he 
was  sent  to  bear  the  consolations  of  religion  to  wounded  and  dying  vol- 
unteers. Many  of  his  most  vivid  and  impressive  illustrations  are  drawn 
from  incidents  in  his  experience  on  the  battle-field. 

'•2  he  was  married  to  Miss  Emma  C.  Revell.     His  wife  was  an  ac- 
tive worker  in  missions,  and  hence  in  thorough  harmony  with  his  self- 
denying  life.      To  them  have  been  born  two  children,  Emma  and  Willie. 
53  a  large  house  of  worship  was  erected  for  his  Sunday-school 
and  congregation.    This  edifice  was  burned  in  the  great  fire  of  1871. 
Moody  then  went  East,  holding  revival  services  in  Brooklyn,  Phila- 
Wphia,  and  elsewhere,  receiving  contributions  to  rebuild  his  church. 
>was  thus  enabled  to  build  a  wooden  Tabernacle  on  the  old  site,  of 
oth  size.    One  thousand  children  were  present  on  the  Sunday 
w«  finished.    Finding  the  demand  for  Evangelistic  labor  in 
l»  urgent,  he  began  to  visit  other  cities  and  churches  and  hold 
eligious  services.     In  nearly  all  the  large  cities  of  the  Union,  he 
1  «ooe«fully.    In  1871,  he  met  Mr.  Ira  D.  Sankey  the  sweet 
1  -oon  united  him  to  himself  as  a  co-worker  in  the  ripened  har- 
Togetherthey  labored  in  America,  England,  Ireland,  Scot- 
oth  at  home  and  abroad  created  such  a  revival  of  religious  in- 
'this  century  has  not  seen  before 

dent  of  the  word,  uneducated  except  in  the  art  of  saving 

•*  earnest,  untiring  in  activity,  Dwight  L.  Moody  haa  done 

«*  to  bnn,  the  world  to  know  Hin,  "whom  to  know  is  life  etexnal." 


THOMAS  GUTHKIE,  D.  D. 


Thomas  Guthrie  was  born  at  Brechin,  in  Forfarshire,  July  12,  1803. 
His  father  was  a  merchant  and  a  banker,  and  the  family  was  one  of 
great  respectability  and  antiquity.  Thomas  Guthrie  was  a  lineal  descen- 
dant of  the  well-known  Dr.  William  Guthrie,  author  of  ''Trial  of  a  Sav- 
ing Interest  in  Christ,"  and  who  was  a  cousin  of  James  Guthrie  the  mar- 
tyr. Thomas  was  one  of  a  family  of  several  boys.  Alexander,  an  elder 
brother,  was  a  medical  practitioner  of  considerable  reputation.  Charles, 
another  brother,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Indian  army,  became  a  captain,  and 
was  killed  in  the  first  Burmese  war.  Until  he  was  eleven  years  of  age 
Thomas  pursued  his  studies  in  his  native  town,  but  at  that  early  period, 
as  was  the  custom  of  the  time,  he  was  sent  to  the  University  of  Edin- 
burg.  Having  decided  to  enter  the  University,  he  passed  through  the 
Divinity  Hall,  and  while  yet  very  young,  he  was  licensed  as  a  preacher 
by  the  Presbytery  of  Brechin.  It  is  by  no  means  certain  through  whose 
influence  he  was  led  to  choose  the  ministry  as  his  profession,  but  it  is 
very  probable  that  his  mother,  who  was,  like  Susannah  Wesley,"  both  a 
godly  and  a  clever  woman,"  disposed  his  youthful  mind  to  it. 

Though  a  licensed  preacher,  he  was  only  a  probationer,  and  for  several 
years,  for  various  reasons,  he  did  not  become  pastor  of  a  settled  congre- 
gation. During  this  period  he  engaged  in  secular  pursuits,  assisted  his 
father  in  the  bank,  and  afterward  paid  some  attention  to  the  study  of 
medicine. 

In  1830,  the  parish  of  Arbirlot  became  vacant,  and  after  considerable 
delay,  Dr.  Guthrie  was  settled  as  the  minister.  His  talent  as  a  preacher 
now  began  to  appear.  He  set  out  with  a  firm  purpose  to  make  himself 
understood,  and  to  gain  and  keep  the  attention  of  the  people.  This  he 
did  by  giving  especial  attention  to  the  illustrations  in  every  sermon.  His 
ministrations  roused  the  people  of  that  city  into  a  vividness  of  religious 
thought  and  a  zeal  for  spiritual  advancement.  But  the  fame  of  the 


preacher  had  spread,  and  in  1837,  Dr.  Gnthrie  was  elected  to  fill  the  v»- 
cancj  in  the  Church  of  the  Old  Greyfriars,  Edinburg.     Though  a  difficult 
port  of  duty,  he  took  rank  as  a  pulpit  orator  of  singular  vigor  and  vivac- 
ity.   It  was  not  long  before  the  church  was  crowded  with  hearers,  many 
of  them  persons  of  high  position  and  renown.     But  Dr.  Guthrie  had  not 
occupied  his  church  long  before  events  occurred  that  led  to  a  reform  in 
the  church  over  all  Scotland.     Up  to  this  tame  he  had  been  a  firm  be- 
r  in  the  Established  Church  as  the  church  of  all  classes,  rich  and 
poor.     So  he  was  much  annoyed  by  the  actions  of  the  Town  Council  in- 
creasing the  seat  rents,  which  meant  exclusion  of  the  poor.     Continued 
«nd  embarrassing  interruptions  on  the  part  of  the  State,  in  which  the 
State  interfered  with  the  freedom  and  impaired  the  spirituality  of  the 
church,  disregarding  the  rights  of  the  people,  led  him,  in  the  ultimate 
sruption  which  occurred,  to  cast  his  lot  with  the  Free  Church  move- 
With  his  congregation,  he  left  St.  John's  Church,  and  found  tem- 
»rary  accommodation  in  the  Wesleyan  Chapel  in  Nicolson  Square.    In 
w  years  a  new  church  was  built  for  his  congregation,  close  to  the  old 
which  he  entered  on  a  new  era  in  his  ministry,  and  was  more 
popular  and  successful  than  ever. 

T.  Guthrie  was  a  great  orator;  but  he  was  something  more.     His 

was  fruitful  in  conversions,  philanthropy,  and  reform 

ong  his  last  utterances  were  these:  "Affection  is  very  sweet;  and 

one  from  whatever  quarter  it  comes-whether  from  a  Highland 

a  peeress-just  as  to  a  thirsty  man  cold  water  is  equally  grate- 

»  aspring  on  the  hillside  as  from  a  richly  ornamented  fountain." 

nu*  of  the  Queen's  inquiry  a.  to  his  condition,   he  said,    «<Itis 


JOSEPH  PARKER,  D.  D. 


In  1830,  in  Northumberland,  England,  Joseph  Parker  was  born.  It  is 
a  fact  -worth  recording  that  the  county  where  he  had  his  birth  has  pro- 
duced "such  a  lawyer  as  Lord  Eldon,  such  an  engineer  as  George  Steph- 
enson,  and  such  a  preacher  as  Thomas  Bihney. " 

Dr.  Parker  regards  his  training  for  the  ministry  as  having  begun  at 
seven  years  of  age.  It  might  have  begun  much  earlier  than  this,  if  it  is 
true,  as  one  has  said  that  "to  reform  a  man  you  must  begin  with  his 
grandmother. " 

After  a  thorough  training  in  the  ancient  languages  and  mathematics, 
he  studied  logic  and  philosophy  in  University  College,  London.  For  a 
short  time  he  was  the  assistant  of  Dr.  John  Cambell,  of  the  Whitefield 
Tabernacle,  after  which  he  settled  at  Banbury  for  five  years,  where  he 
built  a  new  chapel,  only  to  leave  it  to  succeed  Dr.  Robert  Halley  in  Man- 
chester, where  he  labored  until  1869,  when  he  was  called  to  the  Church 
in  the  Poultry,  London. 

He  now  began  to  become  well-known  to  the  public  as  preacher  and 
author.  By  a  Thursday  morning  series  of  discourses,  he  increased  his 
congregation  from  the  ranks  of  those  who  could  not  hear  him  on  Sun- 
day. He  built  the  "City  Temple, "  a  large  structure  at  one  end  of  Hoi- 
born  viaduct,  in  the  heart  of  the  business  portion  of  the  metropolis. 
Here  a  large  congregation  gathers  to  listen  to  his  ministrations,  among 
which  are  many  Americans.  One  cause  of  this  is  that  Dr.  Parker's  pub- 
lished works  are  widely  known  on  this  side  of  the  ocean;  another  is  in 
the  profound  impression  he  produced  by  his  magnificent  address  in 
Madison  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  during  the  meeting  of  the  Evange- 

al  Alliance  in  New  York  in  1873. 

His  recent  visit  to  America,  to  eulogize  his  friend  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
has  increased  our  interest  in  him.  His  sermons,  his  lectures,  notably  the 
one  on  Gladstone,  his  addresses,  but  most  of  all  the  presence  of  the  man 


have  engaged  the  attention  of  the  intelligent  public.  The  writer  has  seen 
him,  heard  him.     His  is  the  eloquence  of  mighty  thought.     He  is  a 
•Id  and  eager  in  his  sacred  work,  an  orator  in 
iven'a  name  and  strength.  His  friendly  critics  suggest  that  he  should 
hare  been  an  actor;  he  is  one.  There  is  no  broader  sphere  for  legitimate 
oratorical  action  than  the  pulpit     In  the  modern  church  we  have  had 
no  man  who  has  done  more  in  authorship  to  expound  and  interpret  the 
hidden  truth  of  Scripture  than  Joseph  Parker.     His  ''People's  Bible"  is  a 
ce  Homo,"   ''Ecce  Deus,"  "Ad  Clerum" 
iosthood  of  Christ"  are  masterpieces.     Among  those  of  our 
century,  wh.-s,-  lines  have  adorned  the  Christian  Ministry,  whose  tongues 
have  proclaimed  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ,  and  whose  pens  have  illus- 
aid  made  clear  many  of  the  "mysteries  of  the  Book,"  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  is  among  the  foremost. 


LIBERTY  ENLJGHTNING  THE  WORLD. 


ACCESS  TO  GOD. 

Christ  the  Only  Means  .............. 

-t  the  Road  ..................... 

-:  the  Key  ...................... 

-t  the  Conqueror  ..........  ..... 

None  but  Christ  .................  23 

ACTIVITY. 
A  Means  of  Grace  ................... 

An  Aid  to  Courage  .................. 

A  Law  of  God  ...................... 

Activity  Betokens  Life  ..........  27 

ADOPTION. 

God's   Fatherhood  Not    Compre- 
hended ......................... 

God's  Plan  for  Man's  Happiness  ____ 

The  Wanderer  Received  ..........  30 

God  Invites  Us  ...................... 

The  Price  of  Christ's  Departure...  32 

AFFLICTION. 
Cements  Hearts  .................... 

A  Deliverc-r  ........................ 

Does  not  entirely  Crush  the  Heart. 
:e  Exempt  ......  ............. 

Afflictions  God's  Mercies  ......  .. 

ATONEMENT. 
God's  Greatest  Work  ............... 

V  tonement  Complete  .......... 

of  of  Divine  Tenderness  ..... 

WeDoNot  Appreciate  It  ........... 

The  Gospel  Message  .........  39,40 

BIBLE. 

............... 

"" 


It*  Precious  Value  .............   ... 

mg  Book  ............... 

lUSnfficif:  .........  45 

THK  BLOOD  OF  JESUS. 
HI*  Blood  Makes  All  Men  Brothers 
The  Ot.jc-rt  t,f  Our  Faith.  .......... 

The   Only   Go«pel-That  of     His 
.............. 

Our  Ranftom  ................. 

The  Blood  of  a  King... 


BROTHERLY  LOVE. 

Prompted  by  Compassion 60 

Sham  Love 50 

An  Example  of  Love 61 

Brotherly  Love  Means  Love  to  all .  52 

Beauty  of  Love 52 

Love— What  It  Is 63 

CHARITY. 

A  Plea  for  Greater  Liberality   64 

Opportunities  for  Exercising  Char- 
ity   , 54 

Resells  of   Charity  in   Missions..  55 

The  Right  Motive 55 

True  Charity 58 

CHEERFULNESS. 

Cheerfulness  in  Contentment 57 

Cheerfulness  Good  for  Health 57 

Living  in  an  Atmosphere  of  Cheer- 
fulness.    58 

The  Christian's  Privilege  68 

Cheerfulness  Helpful  to  Others 59 

CHILDREN. 

Children  Gone 60 

How  to  Treat  Them 60 

Patience  With  Children 61 

Brave  Children 61 

Proper  Subjects  for  Baptism 62 

A  Children's  Heaven 63 

CHRIST. 

No  Name  Like  His 64 

His  Compassion 65 

The  Glorious  Conqueror 65 

Worthy  to  Receive  Praise 66 

His  Crown 67 

The  Interpreter  of  Life 67  69 

CONFESSION. 

Unconscious  Self-Confession 69 

Confession  Assures  Pardon 69 

Coming  to  the  King  as  a  Beggar 70 

A  Condition  of  Blessing 70 

Confession  of  Paul,  David  and  Ezra  71 
CONSCIENCE. 

An  Apartment  of  the  Soul It 

Conscience  May  Become  Hardened  73 


16 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


17 


Conscience  Universally  Sin-Strick- 
en      73 

Conscience  Keeps  a  Record 74 

CONSOLATION. 

Comfort  in  View  of  Reward 75 

Words  for  Weeping  Mothers 76 

Weep  Not  as  Those  That  Have  No 

Hope 77 

Comfort  as  of  a  Mother's 78 

Like  Sunshine  Thro'  Cloud 78    79 

CONVERSION. 

Restitution 80 

Date  of  Conversion 81 

Revival  Conversions 81 

Feeling  Not  An  Index  of  Conver- 
sion   ' 82 

Conversion  a  Simple  Doctrine. . .  .82    83 
COURAGE. 

The  Christian  a  Soldier 84 

Grace  for  Courage  85 

Courage  on  Behalf  of  Principle —    85 

Memory  an  Aid  to  Courage 85 

God  UsesBold  Men 86 

Right  Against  Might 86    87 

CREATION. 

.Creation  in  a  Circle 88 

Culture  the  Complement  of  Crea- 
tion      88 

God  Is  Creation 89 

Skill  Is  Nature 89    90 

THE  CROSS. 
Christ  With  Us  Means  the  Cross 

ForUs 91 

Spes  Unica 91 

Jesus  Bore  the  Cross  For  Us 92 

Our  Salvation  Wrought  Upon  the 

Cross 92 

The  Three  Crosses 93 

The  Cure  for  Trouble 93    94 

CROSS    BEARING. 

A  Heavy   Cross 95 

Battle  Scars  for  Christ 95 

Christ   Our   Example   In     Cross- 
Bearing 96 

Small  Crosses 96 

After  the  Cross  the  Crown 97 

DEATH. 

A  Child's  Death 98 

Death  and  Migration 98 


Death  an  Unmasking 99 

Death  Robbed  of  His  Terror 99 

Comfort  in  Desolate  Homes 100 

After  Death,— What? 100  101 

DECISION. 

Be   Decisive 102 

Example  of   Decision 102 

Immediate  Decision 103 

Importance  of  Decision 103 

An  Earnest  Exhortation 104 

DIVINITY  OF  CHRIST. 

Christ  All  and  In  All 105 

He  Was  Divine 105 

His   Divinity  Manifest  in   is  His  . 

Love 106 

The  Exalted  One 107 

Christ  on  Trial lu7  108 

DUTY. 

Duty  vs.  Love 109 

Examples  of  Love  Compared  with 

Duty 109 

Commonplace  Duty no 

Duty  the  Pendulum  of  a  Clock Ill 

The  Christian's  Duty ill 

EARNESTNESS. 

Importance  of  Earnestness 112 

Rewarded  According  to  Earnest- 
ness      112 

Earnestness  in  Preaching 113 

The  Need  of  Earnestness 113 

Example  of  Earnestness 114  115 

EDUCATION. 

Education  Alone  Not  Enough 116 

Bible  a  Means  of  Education 116 

Education  in  Crime 117 

Education  Increases  Responsibility  117 
Education  a  Fruit  of  Past  Investi- 
gation   , us 

Education  Fosters  Manhood 11« 

Christianity  an  Education 118  119 

ETERNITY. 

Building  for  Eternity 120 

Eternity  Beyond  Comparison 120 

Eternal  Life  and  Eternity  Parallel  121 
Eternity  will  Reveal   to   Sinners 

theh  Folly..... 121 

Tides  of  Eternity  Are  Rising 122 

FAITH. 

The   Only  Door 123 

Faith  Triumphant 123 

An  Example  of  Faith 124 


LI 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


aith m 

land  the  New !-•• 

Head-Faith 

FORGIVENESS. 
Christianity  Teaches  Forgiveness..  127 

An  Bxaraple  of  Forgiveness 1:2* 

Forgiveness  and  Memory I-8 

Hedge  Hog  Forgiveness l-s 

Christ's  Forgiveness 1'- 

WhoUto  Begin 129 

FRIENDSHIP. 

Jesus  the  Best  Friend 130 

-hip  and  Faults 130 

Buffering   Friendship 131 

Friends  Must  Agree 131 

Friendship  Peculiar  to  Man 132 

GOD. 

God  Is  Love  133 

His  Name  Eternal 134 

Wrong  Conception  of  God 134 

Nature 135 

God  a  Parent 135 

A  Challenge  to  Atheists  136 

THE   GOSPEL. 

The  Gospel  Eternal 137 

Meant  for  All 138 

i>c  Univer- 
sal      138 

*pel  a  Delusion 13'J 

The  Gospel  at  Home 139  HO 

<HUCE. 

Law  and  Grace 141 

Grace  of  God  an  Arch 141 

Grace  Does  Not  Change  Men  from 

Nature 142 

Early   Training 142 

•  <  >n  a  Throne  of  Grace 142 

Payson  on  Grace 143 

UK  A 

A  Place  of  Love 144 

n  for  Sorrowful  Hearts 14." 

veetestMusic 14." 

-  Timid  Saints 14: 

The  Christian's  Home I4f 

Heaven  Worth   Striving  For u" 

Help*  on  t  !;••  \V :i  y 14 

HOLI 

A  Holy  Mat.  14 

Holineas  By  the  Blood 


A   Beautiful  Character 149 

Acquired     by    Communion     with 

Christ 149 

Holiness  and  Humility  150 

HOLY  SPIRIT. 

The  Spirit  a  Dove 151 

Necessary  to  Conversion 151 

The  Office  of  the  Spirit. 152 

A  Reprover  of  Sin 152 

The  Spirit's   Power 158 

HOME. 

What  It  Means 154 

Hotel  vs.  Home 155 

Going  Home I55 

Making  a  Home  Happy 156 

HOPE. 

Hopeless  Souls 157 

The  Star  of  Hope 157 

A  Chamber  of  the  Soul 158 

No  Word  For  Hope. 158 

Necessity  of  Hopefulness 159 

HUMILITY. 

The  Child  of  Knowledge 160 

God's   Alphabet 160 

The  Strength  of  Piety 161 

Sons  of  Humanity 161 

Joy  a  Fruit  of  Humility 162 

INFIDELITY. 

The  Most  Alarming  Infidelity 163 

Have  Infidels  Something  Better —  163 

Infidelity  a  Sin 164 

Infidels  Ignorant  of  the  Bible 164 

Infidelity  Defeated 165 

A  Word  to  Mr.   Ingersoll 166  167 

INTEMPERANCE. 

Drowning  Care 168 

A  Drunkard  Saved 168 

Two  Children 109 

Intemperance  Among  Women —  170 

A  Warning 170  171 

JUDGMENT. 
The  Crowning  Day  of  Reckoning...  17K 

Our  Record 173 

An  Awful  Fact 173 

Harshness  In  Judgment 174 

The  Sinner's  Doom 174 

Day  of  Settlement  Forgotten...  174  175 
LIFE. 

Act  in  the  Living  Present 176 

Launch  Out.,.  ..  177 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


19 


Wrecks 177 

Burden-Bearing 178 

What  Is  My  Life? 178  179 

LITTLE    THINGS. 

Little  Sins  and  Big  Sins 180 

Danger  of  Little  Sins 181 

Possibility  of  Small  Beginnings 181 

This  Principle  in  Soul  Winning 182 

Small  Deficiencies    Obstacles     to 

Grace 182  183 

LOVE. 

Lore  Life  a  Flower  Seed 184 

Need  of  Love 184 

Power  of  Love 185 

Give  My  Love  to  Jesus 185 

Soul- Winning  by  Love 186 

Love  Strong  as  Death 186  187 

MAN. 

Demand  for  Good  Men 188 

The  Best  Monument 188 

Worth  of  Man 189 

Man's  Exalted  Nature 189 

A  Name  of  Power 190 

The  Primeval  Man 190  191  192 

MARRIAGE. 

Joyata  Wedding 193 

Unhappy  Marriages 194 

Unequally  Yoked  Together 194 

A  Tender  Tie 195 

MISSIONS. 

Our  Field  the  World 196 

An  Earnest  Plea. 197 

Unto  Every  Creature l'J7 

Universal  Fraternity. ...   198 

The  Missionary  Outlook. 199200 

MOTHER. 

A  Sacred  Name 201 

A  Suggestive  Name 202 

Mother's  Comfort 202 

Mother's  Forgiveness 203  204 

OLD  AGE. 

Vice  in  Old  Age 205 

Growing  Old  Unconsciously 206 

Sad  Old  Age 206 

Rejoicing  In  Old  Age 207  208 

PATIENCE. 

Impatience  Rebuked 209 

APatient  God 210 

More  Patience...  ..  210 


The  Teaching  of  the  Leaves 210 

Patience  in  Small  Efforts 211 

Patience  in  Retreat 211  212 

POOR. 

Nearthe  Skies 213 

Plea  for  Kindness  to  the  Poor 213 

Mercy  for  the  Poor 214 

Poverty  and  Happiness 214 

Danger  of  Great  Riches 215 

The  Poor  in  Heaven 215  216 

POWER. 

Powerless  and  Useless 217 

Power  of  Deep  Piety 218 

The  Test  of  Godliness 218 

Getting  Nearer  God 218 

Annointing  with  Power 219 

PRAYER, 

Consistency  in  Prayer 220 

The  Wealth  of  Prayer 220 

The  Bell-Rope  of  Heaven 221 

An  Example  of  Faith  in  Prayer....  221 

Prayer  Omnipotent 222 

A  Pulpit  Prayer  in  City  Temple, 

London ; 228 

Ignorant  Prayer  Answered  in  Love  224 
PREACHING. 

Earnestness  in  Preaching 225 

Preaching  the  Gospel 226 

They  Make  Others  Feel  Who  Feel 

Themselves.   227 

Illustrative  Preaching 227 

Learning  How  to  Preach 228 

Experimental  Preaching 228 

Apostolic  Idea  of  Preaching 229 

Dishonoring  the  Bible 230 

Practical  Preaching 231 

PROCRASTINATION. 

Shame,  Pride  or  Fear 232 

Danger  of  Delay 232 

A  Sad  Example  of  Procrastination.  233 

Temporal  vs.  Eternal  Interests 234 

Preparation  for  a  Long  Journey. ...  235 

Losing  the  Throne 235  236 

PUNISHMENT. 

Proportioned  to  Sin 237 

The  Wages  of  Sin 238 

A  Warning.  239 

"Sowing  the  Tares" 240 

"Like  the  Chaff" ..  340 

Good  Advice 241  242 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


RESURRECTION. 
Death   a    Sleep— Resurrection     a 

Waking 243 

The  Master  of  the  Grave 244 

A  Joyful  Doctrine 245 

A  Wronif  View  of  Death  245 

A  Matchless  Change 246 

REST. 

Desire  for  Rest 247 

The  Christian's  Life  Not  One  of 

Rest 248 

Danger  of  Restful  Ease  249 

Idleness  Not  Rest 250 

REWARD. 
Reward  for  Unappreciated  Labor...  251 

The  Light  Will  Soon  Break 252 

Th«  Christian's  Reward 252 

The  Brightest  Honors  of  Heaven..  253 
Reward   of    Goodness   Sometimes 

Immediate 253 

Heaven  a  Place  of  Reward 254 

RICHES. 
Adversity  a  Blessing  Sometimes. . .  255 

Danger  of  Riches 256 

"A  Poor  Rich  Man" 256 

Sham  Generosity 257 

Avoid  Anxiety  for  Riches 257  258 

SABBATH. 

The  Lord's  Day  in  Paris 269 

The  Meanness  of  Sabbath  Breakers  259 

Hills  of  Llfrhtand  Joy 260 

Wednesday  Night  Lecture 260 

Sabbath  Views  of  Heaven 261 

SELF-DENIAL. 

Religion  Retires  Self-Denial 2M 

Our  Example  of  Self-Denial ......    ar,i 

Self-Denylng  Lives \\\  26» 

Self-indulgence  Sinful \\\\\  264 

SIN. 
Little  Blnj 


Sin  Is  Cruel 346 

The  Power  of  a  Single  Sin J66 

Sins  Accumulate 266 

Salvation  from  Sin 267 

A  Disease  of  the  Heart 268 

The  Effects  of  Sin 268  269 

THE  CHURCH. 

Present  Foes  to  Fight 270 

Why  Condemn  It? 270 

Do  Not  Magnify  Trifles 271 

Something  Wrong 271  272 

THE  SOUL  IMMORTAL. 

The  Immortality  of  Influence 273 

Stars  Symbols  of  Immortality 274 

The  Grain  of  Wheat 275 

Immortality  Common  to  Christian 

and  Heathen  Minds 276 

The  Christian    Out     of     Death's 

Reach 276  277 

TONGUE, 

Whispers 278 

Unkind  Words  Like  Needles 279 

"TheySay" 2«0 

A  Deadly  Sin ....' 280  181 

WOMAN. 

Women  Among  Heathen 282 

Women  on  the  Battlefield 282 

A  Lost  Woman  283 

Heroism  of  Christian  Woman 284 

Christ  and  Woman 284  285 

YOUTH. 

Influence  of  Young  Christians 286 

Negligence  of  the  Church 287 

Patience  With  Youth 287 

Insidious  Temptations 287 

Deceitful  Nature  of  Sin 288 

Advice  to  Young  Christians 288 

Influence  of  a  Mother  on  Youth 289 

Dr.  Talmage's   Great  Sermon  on 
"Home" ...290to29» 


OEMS 

—OF-— 


TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY 

KROIvI 

TALMAGE,  BEECHER,  SPURGEON,  MOODY, 
GUTHRIE  AND  PARKER. 


ACCESS  TO  GOD. 


"For  through  Him  we  both  have  access  by  tne  Spirit  unt*  the 
Father"— Eph.  in.  18. 

"Thou  art  the  way: — to  thee  alone 
From  sin  and  death  we  flee; 
And  he  who  would  the  Father  seek, 
Must  seek  Him,  Lord,  by  thee." 

— GEORGE  DOANI. 


CHRIST   THE   ONLY   MEANS. 

Ten  thousand  times  the  gate  of  Heaven  has  swung  back 
and  forth,  but  it  never  swings  back  and  forth  save  as  Christ 
opened  it,  and  you  will  go  in  through  Him  or  not  at  all. 
Christ  wants  you  there.  How  do  I  know  it  ?  Suppose  a 
man  lost  a  diamond,  and  he  looked  for  it  eight  or  ten  days, 
would  you  not  conclude,  from  the  fact  that  he  looked  for  it 
so  long,  that  he  wanted  the  diamond  ?  And  when  I  find 
Christ  seeking  for  your  soul,  seeking  for  it  ever  since  it  has 
been  a  soul,  seeking  for  it  by  day  and  by  night,  seeking 

21 


GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

for  it  through  heat  and  through  cold,  seeking  for  it  with 
tears  in  His  eyes,  and  blood  on  His  brow,  and  scourges  on 
His  back,  and  a  world  of  agony  in  His  heart,  I  know  that 
it  H  because  He  wants  to  find  you.  Oh,  He  has  prepared 
a  irlttriuu-  H'-aven  for  you  !  It  is  already  waiting  for  you, 
not  merely  a  throne,  but  steps  by  which  to  mount  it.  Not 
only  a  harp,  but  a  tune  to  play  on  it.  Not  only  a  bannered 
procession,  but  a  victory  which  it  is  to  celebrate.  God 
wants  no  vacant  chairs  at  that  banquet.  He  does  not  want 
those  who  stand  around  Him  in  glory  to  wonder  why  you 
have  not  been  solicited.  He  does  not  want  the  Book  of 
Life  to  thunder  shut  till  your  name  is  in  it. — TALMAGE. 


CHRIST   THE    ROAD. 


"I  am  the  way."  As  a  road  is  that  along  which  men  go 
to  their  daily  avocations.  God  chooses  it  to  represent  Him- 
self in  this  universal  use,  this  underlying  support  of  all 
things  Who  would  dare  say  this  of  God  but  God  '{  Some 
beasts  carry  their  young,  and  some  birds  carry  their  young, 
and  mothers  carry  their  children;  but  who  but  God  would 
•J,  -i  am  the  road;  press  me  with  your  feet."  This  is 
the  highway  cast  up;  and  on  it  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord 
shall  return  and  come  to  Zion,  with  songs  and  everlasting 
joy  upon  their  heads.— BEECHER. 


CHRIST   THE    KEY. 

There  are  many  locks  in  my  house  and  all  with  different 
•it  I  have  one  master  key  which  opens  them  all.     So 
>  Lord  has  many  treasuries  and  secrets  all  shut  up  from 
•nul  nundswith  locks  which  they  cannot  open;  but  he 
w,  ' 


,„  fellowship  with'  Jesus  possesses  the  master 
>ch  will  admit  him  to  all  the  blessings  of  the  cove 


ACCESS  TO   GOD.  23 

nant;  yea,  to  the  very  heart  of  God.  Through  the  Well 
Beloved  we  have  access  to  God,  to  Heaven,  to  every  secret 
of  the  Lord. — SPURGEON. 


CHRIST   OUR    CONQUEROR. 

It  is  said  of  Julian,  the  great  apostate,  that  when  he  was 
trying  to  stamp  out  Christianity  in  the  days  of  Reme's 
prosperity,  before  it  received  Christianity,  when  he  was 
trying  to  drive  those  Christians  away,  he  received  a  mortal 
wound,  and  as  he  pulled  the  spear  out  of  his  side,  he  took 
a  handful  of  the  blood  that  gushed  forth  from  the  wound, 
and  as  he  threw  it  toward  Heaven  he  reeled  and  staggered, 
crying  out,  "There,  Galilean!  Thou  hast  conquered." 
We  are  conquered,  overcome  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 
The  only  way  to  Heaven  is  by  the  word  of  His  testimony 
and  His  blood.  Every  man  that  goes  up,  goes  by  way  of 
the  blood  of  Christ. — MOODY. 


NONE   BUT   CHRIST. 

Till  we  are  reconciled  to  God,  and,  born  again  through 
His  Spirit,  have  become  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus, 
we  are  His  enemies.  Our  works  do  not  spring  from 
love  for  Him,  and  therefore  cannot  have  any  value  in  His 
eyes.  And  how  imperfect  are  even  the  best  works  of  the 
saints  !  There  is  foulness  enough  in  the  purest  heart,  and 
in  respect  of  their  motives,  manner,  and  object,  sin  enough 
in  our  best  actions — those  whereby  we  do  most  good,  and 
earn  most  commendation,  to  condemn  us.  To  speak  of  us 
not  in  our  worst,  but  in  our  best  state,  not  of  the  sins  we 
commit,  but  of  the  services  we  render,  our  wine  has  its 
water,  our  silver  has  its  dross.  And  so,  abandoning  every 
hope  of  acceptance  with  a  holy  God  through  our  own  merit, 
let  us  cling  to  Christ,  as  a  drowning  man  to  the  plank  that, 


iM  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

embraced  in  his  arms,  floats  him  to  shore;  the  language  of 
<;ur  faith  an  echo  of  His  who  breathed  out  His  life  with 
tiir-c  words  on  His  lips,  "None  but  Christ!  none  but 
Ch  rist. " — GUTHRIE. 


ACTIVITY. 

"Whatsoever  thy  hanjl  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might;  for 
there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom,  in  tht 
grave,  whither  thou  goest" — Eccles.  ix.  jo. 

Hark  the  voice  of  Jesus  calling, 

"Who  will  go  and  work  to-day  ? 
Fields  are  white  and  harvests  waiting, 

Who  will  bear  the  sheaves  away  ?  " 
Loud  and  long  the  master  calleth, 

Rich  reward  He  offers  free ; 
Who  will  answer,  gladly  sajing, 

"Here  am  I,  send  me,  send  me  ?" 

—DANIEL  MARCH. 


A  MEANS   OF    GRACE. 

Religion  has  been  brought  into  the  sphere  of  ordinary 
and  practical  things,  and  made  to  consist  in  the  right  order- 
ing of  disposition  and  conduct  in  the  usual  duties  of  life. 

The  great  duties  of  life  as  they  are  ordinarily  distributed, 
both  in  the  household  and  out  of  it,  are  indispensable  to 
the  development  of  the  whole  nature  of  man,  and  of  the 
prime  virtues;  and  they  are  the  instruments,  or,  to  employ 
the  language  of  ancient  times,  the  "means  of  grace,"  in 
life.  The  church,  the  lecture  room,  the  prayer  and  con- 
ference meeting,  the  communion  of  saints,  were  once  spoken 
of  as  "means  of  grace."  They  are  means  of  grace  when 
they  produce  grace;  but  it  would  seem,  in  the  very  use  of 
them,  as  if  they  were  meant  to  exclude  common  life,  com- 
mon duties,  common  occupations;  whereas,  in  the  divine 
economy,  everything  which  pertains  to  the  well-being  of 
the  individual,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  household,  and  the 
welfare  of  the  community  in  which  men  live,  tends  to  that 

25 


26  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

am:  force  which  results  in  civilization.     Everything 

which  1'ivupirs  thought,  and  ripens  into  enterprise,  and 
ripens  enterprise  into  success  and  fruitful  achievement,  is 
part  and  parcel  of  the  divine  scheme. 

Therefore  the  man  who  bends  ove^  his  bench  may  be  as 

really  worshiping  God,  fulfilling  the  will  of  God,  and  doing 

rvice  as  he  who  reads  from  the  Psalms  or  the  Gos- 

p.-l-.     lie  who  is  rightly  performing  the  duties  of  life  is 

worshiping,  if  worship  means  rendering  acceptable  service 

,      Ml. 

One  who  gives  the  full  activity  of  his  nature  to  the  things 
which  concern  him  in  the  sphere  where  God  has  planted 
him,  has  his  mind  in  that  condition  which  it  will  ever  be 
in  communion  with  God.  Activity  in  business  gives  that 
vitality,  that  wholesome,  fresh  condition  of  mind,  which  is 
tin-  very  prime  ingredient  of  fervency  of  spirit;  and  this 
fervency,  this  life  which  is  produced  by  force,  is  to  a  very 
lame  extent  the  source  of  our  strength;  the  source  of  our 
d  moral  judgment;  the  source  of  all  those  virtues  which 
arc  to  be  developed  in  us. — BEECHER. 

AN    AID   TO   COURAGE. 

Courage  maintains  itself  by  its  ardent  action,  as  some 
binl>  rest  on  the  wing.  There  is  an  energy  about  agility 
that  will  often  give  a  man  a  fortitude  which  otherwise  he 
iniirht  not  \\-\\ •«•  possessed.  Wecan  picture  the  gallant  regi- 
m.-nt  at  Balaclava  riding  into  the  valley  of  death  at  a  dash- 
niir  L'ullnp.  but  we  could  scarcely  imagine  their  marching 
dmvly  up  t.»  the  guns,  coolly  calculating  the  deadly  odds 
of  the  adventure. 

There  is  much  in  our  obeying  as  our  Lord  did,  "straight- 


way. 


When  the  Lord  gives  his  servants  grace  to  follow  out 
eir  convictions  as  soon  as  they  feel  them,  then  they  act 


ACTIVITY.  27 

courageously.  First  thoughts  are  best  in  the  service  of 
God,  they  are  like  Gideon's  men  that  lapped.  Second 
thoughts  come  up  timorously  and  limpingly,  and  incite  us 
to  make  provision  for  the  flesh,  like  those  men  whom 
Gideon  discarded  because  they  went  down  on  their  knees 
to  drink,  taking  things  too  leisurely  to  be  fit  for  the  Lord  s 
battles.  — SPURGEON. 


A  LAW    OF    GOD. 

No  one  who  has  read  the  Scripture  will  say  that  it  does 
not  teach  us  to  work.  Every  Bible  student  loves  to  work. 
The  Word  of  God  inspires  us  to  work.  Paul  said  the  love 
of  Christ  constrained  him.  Jeremiah  said  the  Word  of 
God  burned  in  his  bones.  He  fed  upon  it  and  it  was  sweet 
to  his  taste.  If  a  man  gets  his  heart  full  of  the  Word  of 
God,  he  is  not  then  interested  just  in  one  little  corner  of 
the  vineyard,  but  he  will  take  a  wide  field  of  labor  and  in- 
terest. 

The  first  words  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  Christ  on  earth, 
so  far  as  we  have  them  on  record,  were,  "Wist  ye  not  that 
I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business?"  You  will  find 
that  during  His  ministry,  He  toiled  early  and  late  in  the 
work.  After  we  are  saved  we  cannot  help  going  to  work. 
It' a  man  tells  me  he  has  been  saved  of  Christ,  and  yet  has 
no  desire  to  work  for  God,  I  know  it  is  a  spurious  conver- 
sion; it  is  not  a  true  salvation;  it  has  not  the  ring  of  Heaven 
in  it. — MOODY. 


ACTIVITY  BETOKENS   LIFE. 

There  may  be  the  appearance  of  life,  but  certainly  not 
its  presence,  where  there  is  no  activity;  as  they  rightly 
concluded,  who,  sailing  in  Arctic  seas,  fell  in  with  a  ship 
for  long  years  imprisoned  in  the  ice,  and  looked  in  its  cabin 
on  a  strange,  appalling,  wierd-like  scene.     Fifty  years  had 


28  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

conn- and  none  since  living  voice  or  step  had  sounded  there, 
yet  there  were  all  the  crew.  They  .lay  in  couches  on  the 
tl.x.r.  each  attired  in  the  dress  and  presenting  the  form  and 
ll.-sh  of  life;  while  their  captain  sat  by  the  cabin  table,  pen 
in  hand,  and  the  log  spread  out  before  him.  The  specta- 
tors of  so  strange  a  sight,  with  mingled  feelings  of  doubt 
and  terror,  shouted;  but  no  response  came  back.  Nor  crew 
nor  captain  stirred.  All  were  dead,  and  had  been  corpses 
for  half  a  century — the  frosts  that  killed  preserving  them. 
Life-like  as  he  looked  who  bent  over  the  table  with  a  pen  in 
hi>  fingers  and  paper  before  him,  in  which,  the  last  sur- 
vivor, he  had  recorded  their  sufferings,  he  also  was  dead; 
as  they  knew  on  seeing  him  sit  unmoved  by  their  shouts; 
his  eyes  retaining  their  glassy  stare,  and  his  form  its  fixed 
and  frozen  posture.  The  activity  that  thus  marks  all  other 
kinds  of  life,  is  characteristic  of  the  Christian's.  Some- 
times distinguished  by  heroic  daring,  and  prodigal  of  noble 
Is,  at  all  times,  it  is  a  life  of  doing. — GUTHRIE. 


"You  will  get  out  of  this  world  just  so  much  as,  under 
God,  you  earn  by  your  own  hand  and  brain.  Horatius 
was  told  that  he  might  have  so  much  land  as  he  could  plow 
around  in  one  day  with  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  I  have  noticed 
that  men  get  nothing  in  this  world,  that  is  worth  possess- 
ing, of  a  financial,  moral,  or  spiritual  nature,  save  as  they 
«r«-t  it  by  their  own  hard  work.  It  is  just  so  much  as,  from 
th<>  morning  to  the  evening  of  your  life,  you  can  plow 
arouiK  1  by  your  own  continuous  and  hard-sweating  activity. " 
— TALMAOE. 


ADOPTION. 


'•'•For  ye  have  not  received  the  spirit  of  bondage  again  to  fear, 
but  ye  have  received  the  Spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  we  cry,  Abba, 
Father.'" — Rom.  viii.  ij. 

"I  once  was  an  outcast  stranger  on  earth, 

A  sinner  by  choice,  and  an  alien  by  birth ; 
But  I've  been  adopted,  my  name's  written  down, 

An  heir  to  a  mansion,  a  robe  and  a  crown." 

— HATTIE  E.  BTTELL. 


GOD'S  FATHERHOOD  NOT  COMPREHENDED. 

"A  young  child  does  not  know  his  father's  strength. 
"\Ve  are  weak  creatures,  and  cannot  conceive  fully  of  the 
perfections  of  God  ;  we  know  not  what  the  power  of  God 
can  do  for  us.  It  would  be  the  height  of  absurdity  for  the 
child  to  think  and  speak  of  his  father  as  if  he  were  a  child 
too,  and  could  do  no  more  than  the  boy's  playmates.  Yet 
this  is  the  common  error  of  the  children  of  God.  We  do 
not  rai-e  our  thoughts  to  a  God-like  level.  We  think  our 
own  thoughts  of  God,  and  straightway  we  doubt.  Oh  that 
we  rose  to  God's  thoughts,  and  tried  to  conceive  how  He 
looks  upon  matters  !  Surely  He  taketh  up  the  isles  as  a 
very  little  thing,  and  the  mountains  He  weighs  in  scales. 

If  our  troubles  were  set  in  the  light  of  God's  power,  and 
love,  and  faithfulness,  and  wisdom,  they  would  become  to 
us  small  burdens;  why  should  we  not  so  regard  them  ? 
Why  must  we  reckon  as  children  ?  Why  not  compute  our 
load  by  our  Father's  measurement,  and  then  see  how  easily 
it  will  be  carried  ?  Estimating  divine  strength  by  human 
standards  is  one  of  the  childish  things  which  we  must  put 
away. 

29 


30 


GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 


MTRGF.ON.  __ 

GOD'S  PLAN   FOR  MAN'S  HAPPINESS. 

in*  ill-porportioned  theology  that  teaches  the  doctrine, 
at  the  only  motive  in  redemption  was  a  regard  to  God 
v.     It  receives  no  countenance  from  the  Bible.     Doe 
STood  "pity    us,  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children  I  • 
Tm"ht  to  address  him  by  the  endearing  appellation  c 
Father,  oh,  what  affection,  love,  and  loving-kindness  are 
expressed  in  that  tender  term!    And  if,  on  seeing  some 
eurthlv  father,  whom  a  child's  scream  has  reached   an 
roused,  rush  up  the  blazing  stairs,  or  leap  into  the  boiling 
fl.»,,l.  it  were  wrong,  it  were  cruel,  it  were  a  shame,  t< 
suspect  him  <»f  lu-inir  destitute  of  affection-of  being  moved 
to  this  not.le  art  by  no  other  motive  than  a  regard  to  his 
own  honor,  and  by  no  other  voice  than  the  calm  commanu 
of  duty-how  much  more  wrong  were  it  to  harbor  such 
-picions  of  "our  Father  who  is  in  heaven."—  GUTHRIE. 

THE  WANDERER  RECEIVED. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  subject  in  the  Bible  that  takes  hold 
of  me  with  as  great  force  as  this  subject  of  the  wandering 
rhild.     It  enters  deeply  into  my  own  life;  it  comes  right 
home  into  our  own  family.     The  first  thing  I  remember 
was  the  death  of  my  father,  I  remember  nothing  about  the 
.•ral,  but  his  death  has  made  a  lasting  impression  upon 
me.     After  my  mother's  subsequent  sickness,  my  eldest 
ther  to  whom  mother  looked  up  to  comfort  her  in  her 
loneliness,  and  in  her  great  affliction,  became  a  wanderer; 
he  left  home.     I  need  not  tell  you  how  that  mother 
mourned  for  her  boy,  how  she  waited  day  by  day  and 
month  by  month  for  his  return.     I  need  not  say  how  night 


ADOPTION.  31 

after  night  she  watched,  and  wept,  and  prayed.  Many  a 
time  we  were  told  to  go  to  the  post-office  to  see  if  a  letter 
had  liot  come  from  him,  but  we  had  to  bring  back  the 
sorrowful  words,  "Xo  letter  yet,  mother."  Many  a  time 
as  I  walked  up  to  the  house,  I  have  heard  my  mother  pray, 
"O  God,  bring  back  my  boy."  Many  a  time  did  she  lift 
her  heart  up  to  God  in  prayer  for  her  boy.  When  the 
wintry  gale  would  blow  around  the  house,  and  the  gale 
would  rage  without,  her  dear  face  would  wear  a  terribly 
anxious  look,  and  she  would  utter  in  piteous  tones,  "Oh, 
my  dear  boy;  perhaps  he  is  on  the  ocean  this  fearful  night. 
O  God,  preserve  him!"  We  would  sit  around  the  fireside 
of  an  evening  and  ask  her  to  tell  us  about  our  father,  and 
she  would  talk  for  hours  about  him;  but  if  the  mention  of 
my  eldest  brother  should  chance  to  come  in,  then  all  would 
be  hushed;  she  never  spoke  of  him  but  with  tears.  Many 
a  time  did  she  try  to  conceal  them,  but  all  was  in  vain,  and 
when  Thanksgiving  day  came,  a  chair  was  set  for  him. 
Our  friends  and  neighbors  gave  him  up,  but  mother  had 
faith  that  she  would  see  him  again.  One  day  in  the  middle 
of  summer,  a  stranger  was  seen  approaching  the  house. 
He  came  up  on  the  east  piazza  and  looked  upon  my  mother 
through  the  window.  The  man  had  a  long  beard,  and 
when  mother  first  saw  him,  she  did  not  start  or  rise,  but 
when  she  saw  the  great  tears  trickling  down  his  cheeks, 
she  cried,  ''Its  my  boy,  my  dear,  dear  boy,"  and  sprang 
to  the  window.  But  there  the  boy  stood,  and  said, 
"Mother,  I  will  never  cross  the  treshhold  until  you  say  you 
forgive  me."  Do  you  think  he  had  to  stay  there  long? 
No,  no,  her  arms  were  soon  around  him,  and  she  wept 
upon  his  shoulder  as  did  the  father  of  the  prodigal  son 
when  he  returned  home.  I  heard  of  it  when  in  a  distant 
city,  and  what  a  thrill  of  joy  shot  through  me!  But  what 
joy  on  earth  can  equal  the  joy  in  heaven  when  a  wandering 


GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

child  cornea  home  :    The  matchless  parable  of  the  Prodigal 
rdcd  ,olely  to  show  us  the  love  and  compassion  of 
win.  wait-  to  receive  into  the  relation  of  sonship  efery 
wandering  soul.— MOODY. 

GOD   INVITES  US. 

••You  know  how  rapidly  the  snow-flakes  can  accumulate 
on  a  winter's  day,  and  you  know  how  soon  they  aggregate 
on  tin-  top  of  the  Alps;  and  then,  in  certain  conditions  of 
the  weather,  that  great  block  of  snow  which  is  made  up. of 
little  >no\v  Hakes  shoves  off  an  avalanche  on  the  villages 
U'neath.  destroying  them.  So  the  sins  of  your  life— cold, 

-inLr  transgressions— accumulating,  accumulating,  heap 
inir  up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrathf  at  last,  if  unre- 
pented  of.  will  be  an  avalanche  of  darkness  rolling  down 
upon  your  soul.  They  seein  more  like  a  cloud,  black, 
thunder  ehurged.  and  flash  with  all  the  lightning  of  an 
in<-en-ed  God.  and  then  hover  and  swing  about  us  until  in 
the  sufloration  we  gasp  for  mercy,  and  hope  that  a  gale 
fiom  heaven  will  blow  away  the  cloud.  God  is  willing  to 
lift  that  cloud.  He  says  he  is  long  suffering  and  patient. 
He  is  the  God  of  great  pity.  He  is  willing  to  blot  out  all 
your  trunsirre^sions.  He  is  willing  to  take  you  in  the  arms 
of  Hi-  eonipa— ion.  Oh,  here  is  the  letter!  It  is  a  letter 
from  your  Father,  offended  and  outraged.  It  is  a  letter 
to  you- the  -traying  child.  He  says  ''Come  back,  come 
baek!  Though  your  sins  were  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as 

w;  though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as 
wool."  Pardon  for  all!  Free  pardon!  Everlasting  pardon! 
Adoption!  Son-hip!  Oh,  child,  come  home  to  Father, 

IT  Father,  home,  your  home/'— TALMAGE. 


THK    I'KICE   OF  CHRIST'S   DEPARTURE. 

Christ  said  that  it  was  expedient  that  he  should  go  away. 


ADOPTION.  33 

Decause  if  he  did  not  go  the  Comforter  would  not 
come.  The  Spirit;  the  Holy  Spirit;  the  one  who 
stands  over  against  those  subtle  elements  in  the 
human  soul  whiph  we  call  the  spiritual  instinct  or 
sentiment — this  Holy  Spirit  comes  to  take  the  place 
of  Christ,  and  crown  us  sons  in  the  kingdom  of 
God.  This  is  infinitely  better  than  that  Christ  had 
continued  on  the  earth  in  his  physical  form.  O 
throne  of  Grace  where  He  sits  regnant  who  is 
my  Brother!  O  Jesus,  crowned,  not  for  thine 
own  glory,  but  with  power  of  love  for  our. strug- 
gling spirits,  Thou  art  my  Christ — my  Brother — my 
Father's  Son! — BEECHER. 


AFFLICTION. 

..  For  our  light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh 
ntjorusa  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory, ."- 
//  Cor.  iv.  17. 

••Go  then,  earthly  fame  and  treasure! 

Come,  disaster,  scorn  and  pain ! 
In  Thy  service,  pain  is  pleasure; 
With  Thy  favor  loss  is  gain. 

"  Man  may  trouble  and  distress  me, 

'Twill  but  drive  me  to  Thy  breast; 
Life  with  trials  hard  may  press  me, 

Heaven  will  bring  me  sweeter  rest." 

—HENRY  P.  LYT». 

AFFLICTION   CEMENTS   HEARTS. 

Afflictions  make  friendships.     There  was  an  Englishman 
in  (  hica-"  the  winter  before  the  fire,  who  was  much  im- 
pn  —  '1  with  the  rapid  growth  of  the  city.     He  went  back 
to  Manchester  where  he  told  the  people  about  the  city 
only  forty  years  old,    with  all  its  fine  buildings,  its  col- 
leges, its  churches.     He  thought  it  was  a  most  wonderful 
citv.     But  no  one  seemed  to  take  any  interest  in  Chicago. 
••  But."  ln>  >a\>,  "one  day  the  news  came  flashing  over 
the  wire-  that  Chicago  was  burning.     Then  they  suddenly 
;ime  interested  about  Chicago.     Every  man  I  had  told 
about  Chicago  became  interested,  and  couldn't  hear  too 
much.     The  news  came  flashing  under  the  sea  that  half 
tln>  city  was  burnt.     There  were  men  who  couldn't  help 
hut  wrt-p."     At  last  the  news  came  that  100,000  people 
were  homeless,  and  were  in   danger  of  starvation,  unless 
immediate  help  was  sent.     Then  these  men  came  forward 

34 


APFLICTION.  35 

and  gave  their  thousands.  It  was  the  calamity  that  visited 
Chicago  that  brought  out  the  love  and  pity  of  those  men.— 
MOODY. 


A    DELIVERER. 

Is  it  dark  with  thee,  my  friend?  It  has  been  quite  as 
dark  with  myself,  and  yet  I  have  seen  light  descending  on 
the  rugged  hills  and  making  those  hills  as  steps  up  to 
heaven.  Art  thou  afraid  of  the  coming  days,  lest  they 
bring  with  them  edged  weapons,  pain,  grief,  loss,  friend- 
liness, and  desolation  ?  Put  thy  hand  into  the  palm 
wounded  for  thee,  the  palm  of  the  one  Infinite  Savior. 
He  knows  all — He  is  the  treasurer  of  the  future — the  great 
dragon  is  tamed  by  the  anger  of  His  eye — and  they  who 
trust  Him  with  all  their  love,  shall  be  set  amidst  the  safety, 
the  peace,  and  the  glory  of  His  eternal  Zion. — PARKER. 


AFFLICTIONS   DO   NOT   ENTIRELY   CRUSH    THE    HEART. 

"  I  have  seen  the  characters  of  the  writing  remain  on 
paper  that  the  flames  had  turned  into  a  film  of  buoyant 
coal;  I  have  seen  the  thread  that  had  passed  through 
the  fire  retain,  in  the  cold  gray  ashes,  the  twist  it  had  got 
in  spinning;  I  have  found  every  shivered  splinter  of  the 
flint  as  hard  as  the  unbroken  stone;  and,  let  trials  come,  in 
providence,  sharp  as  the  fire,  and  ponderous  as  the  crush- 
ing hammer,  unless  God  send  with  these  something  else 
than  these,  bruised,  broken,  bleeding  as  the  heart  may  be, 
it  remains  the  same." — GUTHRIE. 


NO   LIFE    EXEMPT. 

Trouble  is  an  apothecary  that  mixes  a  great  many 
draughts,  bitter  and  sour,  and  nauseous,  and  you  must 
drink  some  one  of  them.  Trouble  puts  up  a  great  many 
packs,  and  you  must  carry  some  of  them.  There  is  no 


36  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

sandal  so  thick  and  well   adjusted   bul  some  thorn  will 
ki-  through  it.      There  is  no  sound  so  sweet,  but  the 

undertaker's  screw-driver   grates    through    it.     In    this 

ft  >lmttle  of  the  heart  some  of  the  threads  must  break. 

\V«-  pluck  some  of  our   best  comforts   from  the  very 

midst  of  our  trials.       I   have   noticed  that  some  of  the 

sweetest  berries  grow  on  the  sharpest  thorns. 
Afflictions  are  loathsome  things,  but  they  are  necessary. 

They  are  leeches  that  draw  out  the  inflammation  of  the 

soul. — TALMAGE. 

AFFICTIONS  GOD'S  MERCIES. 

God  washes  the  eyes  by  tears  until  they  can  behold  the 
otherwise  invisible  land  where  tears  shall  come  no  more. 
O,  Love  !  O,  Affliction  !  Ye  are  the  guides  that  show  us 
the  way  through  the  great  airy  space  where  our  loved  ones 
walked ;  and  as  hounds  easily  follow  the  scent  before  the 
dew  be  risen,  so  God  teaches  us,  while  our  sorrow  is  tear- 
wet  to  follow  on  and  find  our  dear  ones  in  Heaven. — 
BKECHEB. 


ATONEMENT. 


"  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  He  was  bruised 
for  our  iniquities.  The  chastisment  of  our  peace  was  upon  Him; 
and  with  His  stripes  we  are  healed.  All  we  like  sheep  have 
gone  astray ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way ;  and 
the  Lord  hath  laid  on  Him  the  iniquity  of  us  all." — Isaiah  Liii.  5. 

"Hail  to  the  Lord's  anointed, 

Great  David's  greater  Son ! 
Hail  in  the  time  appointed, 

His  reign  on  earth  begun ! 
He  comes  to  break  oppression, 

To  set  the  captive  free ; 
To  take  away  transgression, 

And  rule  in  equity. 

—JAMES  MONTGOMEKY. 


GOD'S   GREATEST   WORK. 

Of  all  God's  works,  redemption  through  His  Son's 
atonement  is  the  greatest;  it  is  His  "strange"  work.  That 
cross  on  Calvary,  which  mercy  raised  for  you,  cost  more 
love,  and  labor,  and  wisdom,  and  skill,  than  all  yon  starry 
universe.  With  the  earth  its  emerald  floor,  its  roof  the 
sapphire  firmamen*-,  the  sun  and  stars  its  pendant  lamps, 
its  incense  a  thousand  fragrant  odors,  its  music  of  many 
sounds  and  instruments,  the  song  of  groves,  the  murmur 
of  the  streams,  the  voice  of  winged  winds,  the  pealing 
thunder,  and  the  everlasting  roar  of  ocean,  nature's  is 
a  glorious  temple  !  Yet  that  is  a  nobler  temple,  which, 
with  blood-redeemed  saints  for  its  living  stones,  and  God 
and  the  Lamb  for  its  uncreated  lights,  stands  aloft  on 
the  Rock  of  Ages — the  admiration  of  angels,  and  the 
glory  of  the  universe. — GUTHRIE. 

87 


3>  GEMS  OF  77  UTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

THE   ATONEMENT   COMPLETE. 

Two  relationships  made  Jesus'  atonement  successful. 
He  was  human,  and  therefore  on  our  side.  He  was 
Divine,  and  therefore  on  God's  side.  A  righteous  decree 
had  gone  forth,  that  because  of  their  sins,  a  race  must 
die.  Jesus  said,  "That  shall  not  be.  I  am  God.  I 
belong  to  God.  I  belong  to  the  race.  I  will  take  these 
two  relationships  into  the  negotiation.  I  will  redeem 
mankind,  though  it  cost  my  life."  "O,  stop!"  cried 
all  the  hosts  of  heaven.  "Your  blood  will  redden  the 
door-steps  of  the  world.  You  will  only  be  sacrificed." 
"No,''  says  Christ,  "I  will  not  stop.  I  know  all  the 
torment ;  I  know  all  the  bleeding  ;  I  know  the  death 
that  is  to  come  ;  but  I  willingly  throw  myself  across 
the  sharp  edges  of  this  undertaking.  Stand  back,  men, 
angels,  and  devils,  I  come  to  the  rescue.  God  must  be 
reconciled.  The  decree  must  be  revoked.  Here  I  drop 
into  the  tortures  and  massacre.  If  I  perish,  I  perish." 

Wonder  of  wonders!  Jesus,  with  the  tears  of  human 
sorrow  in  one  hand,  and  the  key  of  eternal  domination 
in  the  other,  appears  to  put  away  our  sin  by  the  sacri- 
fice of  Himself. — TALMAGE. 


A   PROOF   OF   DIVINE    TENDERNESS. 

God  showed  His  love  for  us  in  that  He  died  for  us 
while  we  were  yet  enemies.  He  showed  His  love  for 
us  in  that  He  suffered  for  our  sake.  God  bears  us  as 
sick  babes  are  borne  in  the  arms  of  nurses  through  all 
the  years  of  our  life.  And  when  at  last  we  come  to 
the  gate  of  heaven,  we  are  none  of  us  to  enter  into  the 
land  of  the  blest  because  we  can  say,  "Behold  I  am 
accordant,  symmetric,  perfected  ! "  None  of  us  are  to  go 
into  the  heavenly  land  by  reason  of  the  many  good  deeds 
we  have  performed.  Every  one  of  us,  entering  in,  will 


ATONEMENT.  39 

say,  "I  am  borne  by  the  motherhood  and  fatherhood  of 
God,  who  has  taken  pity  on  me  in  my  distress  ;  and  I  am 
what  I  am  by  the  wonderous  love  and  care  of  God.  Open, 
ye  gates,  that  I  may  see  Him  who  loved  me,  and  died  for 
me  !  Open,  ye  long  ranks  between  me  and  my  God,  that 
I  may  behold  that  love  and  salvation  which  has  by  its  vir- 
tue and  power,  drawn  men  upward,  as  the  sun  draws  flow- 
ers from  the  soil.  I  shall  go  into  heaven  as  one  redeemed 
by  the  love  of  God,  the  atonement  of  Christ,  and  the  min- 
istrations of  the  Holy  Spirit. — BEECHEB. 


WE    DO   NOT   APPRECIATE   IT. 

If  a  prince,  passing  by  an  execution,  should  take  the 
malefactor's  chains,  and  sufler  in  his  stead,  the  deed  would 
ring  through  all  history,  and  be  quoted  as  an  amazing  in- 
stance of  heroic  pity  ;  and  well  deserved  would  be  all  the 
words  of  praise  and  sonnets  of  admiration  which  would 
record  and  eulogize  it.  Yet,  our  Lord  Jesus  did  this,  and 
infinitely  more  for  those  who  were  not  merely  malefactors 
but  enemies  to  His  own  throne  and  person.  This  is  a  won- 
der of  wonders  !  But  it  meets  with  smalt  praise.  The 
most  of  men  around  us  have  heard  of  it,  and  treated  it  as 
of  little  import;  as  an  idle  tale;  as  a  pious  legend  ;  as  a 
venerable  fable  ;  as  an  unpractical  my  th.  Even  those  who 
know,  believe,  and  admire,  are  cold  in  their  emotions  with 
regard  to  the  story  of  the  atonement.  Herein  is  love 
which  ought  to  set  our  hearts  on  fire,  and  yet  we  scarcely 
maintain  a  smoldering  spark  of  enthusiasm.  Lord  Jesus, 
be  more  real  to  our  apprehensions,  and  more  completely 
the  master  of  our  affections. — SPURGEON. 


THE    GOSPEL   MESSAGE. 

I  was  in  a  city  in  Europe,  and  a  young  minister  came 


40 

to  me  and  said,  "Moody,  what  makes  the  difference  be- 
tween your  preaching  and  mine?  Either  you  are  right, 
and  I  am  wrong,  or  you  are  wrong,  and  I  am  right." 
Said  I,  "I  don't  know  what  the  difference  is,  for  you 
have  heard  me,  and  I  have  never  heard  you  preach.  What 
is  the  difference?"  Said  he,  "You  make  a  great  deal  of 
the  death  of  Christ,  and  I  don't  make  anything  out  of 
it.  I  don't  think  it  has  anything  to  do  with  it.  I 
preach  the  life."  Said  I,  "What  do  you  do  with  this: 
'  He  hath  borne  our  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  tree? " 
Said  he,  4> I  never  preached  that."  Said  I,  "What  do 
you  do  with  this  :  lHe  was  wounded  for  our  transgres- 
sions ;  He  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities,  and  with  His 
stripes  we  are  healed?"  Said  he,  "I  never  preached 
that.''  "Well,"  said  I  again,  "What  do  you  do  with  this: 
'  Without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission  ?' ' 
Said  he,  "I  never  preached  that."  I  asked  him,  "What 
do  you  preach  ?"  "Well,"  he  says,  "I  preach  a  moral 
essay."  Said  I,  "My  friend,  if  you  take  the  atoning 
blood  out  of  the  Bible,  it  is  all  a  myth  to  me."  Said  he, 
"I  think  the  whole  thing  is  a  sham."  "Then,"  said  I, 
"  I  advise  you  to  get  out  of  the  ministry  very  quick.  I 
would  not  preach  a  sham.  If  the  Bible  is  untrue,  let 
us  stop  preaching,  and  come  out  at  once  like  men,  and 
tight  against  it ;  but  if  these  things  are  true,  and  Jesus 
Christ  left  heaven  and  came  into  this  world  to  shed  His 
blood  and  thereby  sr.ve  sinners,  then  let  us  lay  hold  of  it 
and  preach  it  in  season  and  out  of  season."  In  the  semin- 
ary at  Princeton,  last  year,  when  the  students  were  ready 
t<>  graduate,  the  old  man,  their  instructor  stood  up  before 
tin-in.  :nul  said,  "Young  men,  make  much  of  the  blood. 
Ymmg  men,  make  mueli  of  the  blood!"  And  I  have 
I'-arned  this,  that  a  minUer  who  makes  much  of  the  blood, 
<>f  th«-  atonement,  of  substitution,  and  holds  Christ  up  us 


ATONEMENT.  41 

the  sinner's  only  hope,  God  blesses  his  preaching.  And 

if    the    Apostles    did   not   preach   that,  what    did  they 
preach  ? — MOODY. 


THE  BIBLE. 


"  Thy  word  is  truth,'"    John  xvii.  //.      "The  word  *f  our 
God  shall  stand  forever"     Isaiah  xl.  8. 

"Within  this  ample  volume  lies 

The  mystery  of  mysteries. 
Happiest  they  of  human  race, 

To  whom  their  God  has  given  Grace 
To  read,  to  fear,  to  hope,  to  pray, 

To  lift  the  latch,  to  force  the  way; 
And  better  had  they  ne'er  been  born. 

That  read  to  doubt,  or  read  to  scorn." 

—SIR  WALTER  SCOTT. 


WORTHY   OF   STUDY. 

I  know  that  young  doctors,  young  lawyers,  young  ac- 
countants, young  machanics,  young  merchants,  have  but 
little  time  for  general  reading.  If  so,  then  spend  more  of 
that  time  at  the  fountain  of  divine  truth  from  which  nearly 
all  the  books  have  been  dipped  that  are  worth  anything.  I 
will  undertake  to  say  that  every  great  book,  that  has  been 
published  since  the  first  printing  press  was  lifted,  has  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  derived  much  of  its  power  from  the 
sacred  oracles.  Goethe,  the  admired  of  all  skeptics,  had  the 
wall  of  his  home  at  Wiemar  covered  with  religious  maps 
and  picture.  Milton's  "Paradise  Lost"  is  part  of  the  Bible 
in  1)1  sink  verse.  Tasso's  "Jerusalem  Delivered"  is  bor- 
rowed from  the  Bible.  Spencer's  writings  are  imitations 
of  the  parables.  John  Banyan  saw  in  a  dream  only  what 
t.  John  had  seen  before  in  Apocalyptic  vision.  Macaulay 
crowns  his  most  gigantic  sentences  with  Scripture  quota- 
tions. Through  Addison's  "Spectator"  there  glances  in 

42 


THE  BIBLE.  43 

and  out  the  stream  that  broke  from  beneath  the  throne  of 
God,  clear  as  crystal.  Walter  Scott's  characters  are  Bible 
men  and  women  under  different  names.  Meg  Merrihes, 
the  witch  of  Endor.  Shakespeare's  Lady  Macbeth  was 
Jezebel.  Hobbes  stole  from  this  u  Castle  of  Truth"  the 
weapons  with  which  he  afterward  assaulted  it.  Lord 
Byron  caught  the  ruggedness  and  majesty  of  his  style  from 
the  prophicies.  The  writings  of  Pope  are  saturated  with 
Isaiah,  and  he  finds  his  most  successful  theme  in  the  Mes- 
siah. The  poets  Thompson  and  Johnson,  dipped  their 
pens  in  the  style  of  the  inspired  orientals.  Thomas  Carlyle 
is  only  a  splendid  distortion  of  Ezekiel;  and  wandering 
through  the  lanes  and  parks  of  this  imperial  domain  of 
Bible  truth,  I  find  all  the  great  American,  English,  Ger- 
man, Spanish,  Italian  poets,  painters,  orators,  and  rhetori- 
cians. Now  if  this  be  so,  and  the  young  man  has  but  little 
time  to  read,  why  not  go  to  the  great  fountain  of  all  truth 
and  inspiration,  from  which  these  other  books  dip  their 
life. — TALMAGE. 


LIKE   HIDDEN   GOLD. 

The  truths  of  the  Bible  are  like  gold  in  the  soil.  Whole 
generations  walk  over  it,  and  know  not  what  treasures  are 
hidden  beneath.  So  centuries  of  men  pass  over  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  know  not  what  riches  lie  under  the  feet  of  their 
interpretation.  Sometimes  when  they  discover  them,  they 
call  them  new  truths.  One  might  as  well  call  gold,  newly 
dug,  new  gold. 

The  Bible,  without  a  spiritual  life  to  interpret  it,  is  like 
a  trellis  on  which  no  vine  grows — bare,  angular  and  in  the 
way.  The  Bible  with  a  spiritual  life,  is  like  a  trellis  covered 
with  a  luxuriant  vine — beautiful,  odorous,  and  heavy  with 
purple  clusters  shining  through  the  leaves. — BEECHER. 


44  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

A  PEOPLE'S  BOOK. 

More  Bible  is  what  is  needed.  The  Bible  must  be  taken 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  priest,  and  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
pie.  I  will  not  have  it  that  the  Bible  is  a  mystery  in 
the  s  -use  of  being  accessible  only  by  experts;  it  is  the 
people's  book  in  the  sense  that  the  air  is  the  people's  air, 
an  1  the  firmament  is  the  people's  firmament.  Of  course 
tin-  scientific  man  has  his  own  view  of  the  sky,  and  his  own 
w.iy  of  examining  the  air,  yet  the  poorest  dunce  may  look 
up  into  the  solemn  heights,  and  the  meanest  drudge  drink 
in  the  living  air.  Many  people  could  make  more  of  the 
sky  itself  than  of  a  learned  lecture  upon  it,  and  a  mountain 
breeze  could  be  appreciated  when  a  chemical  analysis 
would  be  misunderstood.  It  is  so  with  the  Bible.  Let  the 
people  themselves  read  "Moses  and  the  prophets,"  not 
send  for  a  priest  to  read  for  them,  but  sit  down  to  the 
sacred  task  and  spell  out  the  infinite  thoughts. — PARKER 


ITS  PRECIOUS  VALUE. 

There  is  gold  in  the  rocks  which  fringe  the  Pass  of  the 
Splugen,  gold  even  in  the  stones  which  mend  the  roads, 
but  there  is  too  little  of  it  to  be  worth  extracting.  Alas, 
lio\v  like  too  many  books  and  sermons!  Not  so  the  Scrip- 
ture; they  are  much  fine  gold;  their  very  dust  is  precious. 

Let  no  one  turn  away  from  the  Bible  because  it  is  not  a 
book  of  learning  and  wisdom.  It  is,  would  ye  know 
astronomy:  It  is  here;  it  tells  you  of  the  Sun  of  Right- 
••u-ness  and  the  Star  of  Bethlehem.  Would  you  know 
Botany  ?  It  is  here;  it  tells  you  of  the  plant  of  renown— 
the  -Lily  of  the  Valley,"  and  the  "Rose  of  Sharon."  Would 
you  know  geology  and  mineralogy?  You  shall  learn  it 
here;  for  you  may  read  of  the  Rock  of  Ages,  and  the 
W  hite  Stone  with  the  name  graven  thereon,  which  no  man 


THE  BIBLE.  45 

knoweth  save  he  that  receiveth  it.  Would  ye  study  his- 
tory ?  Here  is  the  most  ancient  of  all  the  records  of  the 
history  of  the  human  race.  Whate'er  your  science  is,  come 
and  bend  over  this  book,  your  science  is  here. — SPUR- 
GEON. 


AN   INTERESTING  BOOK. 

We  want  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  Bible  is  not  a  dry  un- 
interesting book,  as  a  great  many  skeptics  try  to  make 
out.  They  say,  "We  want  something  new;  we  have  out- 
grown that."  Why,  the  word  of  God  is  the  only  new 
book  in  the  world.  All  that  the  newspapers  can  do  is  to 
tell  of  things  as  they  have  taken  place,  but  the  Bible  tells 
of  things  that  will  take  place.  We  do  not  consider  the 
Bible  enough  as  a  whole.  We  just  take  up  a  word  here 
and  a  word  there,  a  verse  here  and  a  verse  there,  a  chap- 
ter here  and  a  chapter  there,  and  not  in  a  systematic  way. 
We  therefore  know  very  little  about  the  Bible.  I  will 
guarantee  that  the  majority  of  Christians  in  America  only 
read  the  Bible  at  family  worship;  and  you  will  notice  too, 
that  they  have  to  put  a  book  mark  in  to  tell  where  they 
left  off  the  day  before.  Ask  them  an  hour  after,  what  they 
have  read,  and  they  have  forgotten  all  about  it.  Of  course 
we  cannot  get  much  knowledge  of  the  Bible  in  that  way. 
When  I  was  a  boy  I  worked  on  a  farm  and  I  hoed  corn  so 
poorly  that  when  I  left  off,  I  had  to  take  a  stick  and  mark 
the  place,  so  I  could  tell  the  next  morning  where  I  had 
stopped  the  night  before.  If  I  didn't  I  would  likely  as  not 
hoe  the  same  row  over  again. 

In  order  to  understand  the  Bible  we  will  have  to  study 
it  carefully. — MOODY. 

ITS   SUFFICIENCY. 

Within  the  two  boards  of  the  poor  man's  Bible  is  a 


46  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

greater  wealth  of  happiness,  of  honor,  of  pleasure,  of  true 
pt  ace.  than  Australia  hides  in  the  gold  of  all  her  mines. 
That,  for  example,  could  not  buy  the  pardon  of  any  of  the 
thousand  criminals  of  a  country,  which,  weary  of  their 
crimes,  once  cast  on  her  distant  shores;  but  here  is  what 
sat  i>lics  a  justice  stricter  than  man's  and  procures  the  for- 
giveness of  sins  of  which  the  stoutest  heart  may  tremble  to 
think.— GUTHRIE. 


THE    BLOOD   OF   JESUS. 


"  If  we  walk  in  the  light  as  He  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fel- 
lowship one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  Jfis 
Son  clean  set  h  us  from  all  sin.1' — I  John  I:  f. 

"  Hail,  thou  once  despised  Jesus! 

Hail,  thou  Galilean  King! 
Thou  didst  suffer  to  release  us, 

Thou  didst  free  salvation  bring. 
Hail,  thou  agonizing  Savior, 

Bearer  of  our  sin  and  shame ! 
By  Thy  merits  we  find  favor; 

Life  is  given  through  Thy  name." 

— JOHN  BAKEWELL. 


HIS   BLOOD   MAKES   ALL  MEN   BROTHERS. 

The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  makes  all  nations  akin. 
Then  look  not  for  your  relations  in  your  own  house  or 
in  your  own  sphere.  Christ's  blood  is  stronger  for  re- 
lationship than  blood  of  father  or  mother.  Look  above 
you.  All  there  are  yours.  Go  down  to  the  bottom  of  so- 
ciety. All  below  you  are  judgment-day,  brothers ;  God's 
eternity  is  on  them  and  you  alike. — BEECHER. 


The  blood  of  the  atoning  God  is  the  life  fluid  of  His 
church.  Spilt  on  Calvary,  it  has  nourished  into  richness 
the  tree  on  which  a  Savior  suffered,  and  no  longer  is  it 
bare  and  naked,  but  a  foilage-laden  forest  of  shelter-grow- 
ing branches. — CHARLES  B.  MANLY. 


THE  OBJECT  OF  OUR  FAITH. 

Is  thy  faith  tixed  on  the  precious  blood?      Then  thou 
art  in  the  covenant.      Canst  thou  read  thy  name  in  the 

47 


GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

bloudv  characters  of  a  Savior's  atonement,  who  says  to 
all  "Come  unto  me?"  Then  shalt  thou  read  it  one  day 
in  th<-  golden  letters  of  the  Father's  election.  He  that  be- 
lifveth  is  elected.  The  blood  is  the  symbol,  the  token, 
the  earnest,  the  surety,  the  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace 
to  thee.  By  this  blood,  sin  is  cancelled  ;  by  Jesus'  agon- 
ies justice  is  satisfied  ;  by  His  death,  the  law  is  honored  ; 
and  !>y  that  blood  in  all  its  mediatorial  efficacy,  and  in  all 
its  cleansing  power,  Christ  fulfills  all  that  He  stipulated  to 
do  on  the  behalf  of  His  people  towards  God. — SPURGEON. 

THE  ONLY  GOSPEL — THAT  OF  HIS  BLOOD. 

Be  assured  that  any  religion  which  makes  light  of  the 
blood  is  of  its  father,  the  devil.  No  matter  how  eloquent 
a  man  is,  if  he  preaches  against  the  blood  he  is  doing  the 
devil's  work.  Do  not  listen  to  him.  Do  not  believe  him. 
If  an  angel  from  heaven  should  preach  any  other  gospel,  I 
would  not  believe  it.  "  Christ's  blood  shed  for  the  par- 
don of  our  sins,"— that  is  the  gospel  that  Paul  preached, 
and  Peter  preached,  and  that  God  has  always  honored  in 
the  salvation  of  men's  souls. — MOODY. 


OUR   RANSOM. 

To  save  us  from  sin,  and  from  that  hell  where  they  seek 
for  death  but  cannot  find  it,  and  only  find  after  unnum- 
bered ages  that  their  torments  are  beginning.  Jesus  inter- 
l>«»ed.  saying,  "  I  will  save  them— suspend  the  sentence — 
I  eome  to  do  thy  will,  O,  my  God,  deliver  from  going 
down  to  the  pit,  I  have  found  a  ransom — have  patience 
with  them  and  I  will  pay  thee  all !  "  He  paid  it.  Making 
atonement  for  sin  "  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgres- 
sions ;  he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities  ;  the  chastisement 
)f  our  peace  was  upon  Him  ;  and  with  his  stripes  we  are 
The  debt  was  paid  on  Calvary  to  the  uttermost 


THE  BLOOD  OF  JESUS.  49 

farthing  ;  and  now  God  only  awakens  our  convictions  and 
alarms  our  consciences,  reckoning  with  us,  that  He  may 
bring  sinners  to  acknowledge  their  guilt,  and  so  prepare 
them  to  receive  His  mercy. — GUTHRIE. 

THE   BLOOD   OF   A  KING. 

A  king  dying  !  You  remember  when  the  last  Czar  of 
Russia  was  in  his  fatal  sickness,  that  bulletins  were  every 
hour  dispatched  from  the  palace,  saying,  "The  king  is 
better,"  or  '•  The  king  is  worse,"  or  "  The  king  is  deleri- 
ous,"  or  "  The  king  rested  easier  through  the  night,"  or 
"  The  king  is  dying,"  or  "  The  king  is  dead."  The  bells 
tolled  it,  the  flag  signaled  it,  the  telegraphs  flashed  it.  Tell 
it  now  to  all  the  earth  and  to  all  the  heavens — Jesus,  our 
King,  is  sick  with  His  last  sickness.  Let  couriers  carry 
the  swift  dispatch.  His  pains  are  worse.  He  is  breath- 
ing a  last  groan  ;  through  His  body  quivers  the  last 
anguish  ;  the  King  is  dying  ;  THE  KING  is  DEAD  !  Ye 
who  come  round  about  the  cross,  look  what  is  beneath.  It 
is  royal  blood. — TALMAGE. 


BROTHERLY  LOVE. 


11  Let  brotherly  love  continue" — Heb.  xiii.  I. 

"There  are  lonely  hearts  to  cherish, 

While  the  days  are  going  by ; 
There  are  weary  souls  who  perish, 
While  the  days  are  going  by. 
If  a  smile  we  can  renew, 
As  our  journey  we  persue— 
O  the  good  we  all  may  do, 
While  the  days  are  going  by." 


PROMPTED   BY   COMPASSION. 

The  story  goes  that  Henry  the  Eighth  wandering  one 
night  in  the  streets  of  London  in  disguise,  was  met  at  the 
bridgefoot  by  some  of  the  watch,  and  not  giving  a  good 
account  of  himself  was  carried  off  to  the  Poultry  Compter, 
and  shut  up  for  the  night  without  fire  or  candle.  On  his 
liberation,  he  made  a  grant  of  thirty  chaldrons  of  coals  and 
a  quantity  of  bread  for  the  solace  of  night  prisoners  in  the 
Compter.  Experience  brings  brotherly  love.  Those  who 
htve  felt  sharp  afflictions,  terrible  convictions,  racking 
doubts  and  violent  temptations,  will  be  jealous  in  helping 
those  of  a  similar  condition.  It  were  well  if  the  great 
Head  of  the  church  would  put  unsympathetic  Christians 
into  the  Compter  of  trouble  for  a  season  until  they  can 
weep  with  those  that  weep. — SPURGEON. 

SHAM    LOVE. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  what  we  might  call  sham  love. 
People  profess  to  love  you  very  much,  when  you  find  it  is 
all  on  the  surface.  It  is  not  heart  love.  Very  often  you 
are  in  a  person's  house,  and  the  servant  comes  in  and  says 

50 


BR O THERL Y  LOVE.  51 

such  a  person  is  in  the  front  room,  and  she  says,  "  Oh, 
dear.  I  am  so  sorry  he  has  come,  I  can't  bear  the  sight  of 
him  ;"  and  she'll  get  right  up  and  go  into  the  other  room 
and  say,  "Why,  how  do  you  do  ?  I  am  so  glad  to  see  you." 
There  is  a  good  deal  of  that  sort  of  thing  in  the  world.  I 
remember  I  was  talking  with  a  man  one  day,  and  an  ac- 
quaintance of  his  came  in,  and  he  jumped  up  at  once  and 
shook  him  by  the  hand — I  thought  he  was  going  to  shake 
his  hand  out  of  joint,  he  shook  so  hard, — and  he  seemed  to 
be  so  glad  to  see  him,  and  wanted  him  to  stay,  but  the 
man  was  in  a  great  hurry,  and  could  not  stay,  and  he 
coaxed  and  urged  him  to  stay,  but  the  man  said  no,  he 
would  come  at  another  time;  and  after  that  man  went  out, 
my  companion  turned  to  me  and  said,  "Well,  he  is  an 
awful  bore,  and  I'm  glad  he's  gone. "  Well  I  began  to  feel 
that  I  was  a  bore  too,  and  so  I  got  out  as  quick  as  I  could. 
That  is  not  real  love.  That  is  love  with  the  tongue,  while 
the  heart  is  not  true.  Now  let  us  not  love  in  word  and  in 
tongue,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth.  That  is  the  kind  of  love 
God  gives  us. — MOODY. 

AN   EXAMPLE  OF  LOVE. 

On  the  deck  of  a  foundering  vessel  stood  a  negro  slave. 
The  last  man  left  on  board,  he  was  about  to  step  into  the 
life-boat.  She  was  almost  laden  to  the  gunwale,  to  the 
water's  edge.  Bearing  in  his  arms  what  seemed  a  heavy 
bundle,  the  boats  crew  who  with  difficulty  kept  her  afloat 
in  the  roaring  sea,  refused  to  receive  him.  If  he  came  it 
must  be  unincumbered  and  alone,  on  that  they  insisted. 
He  must  either  leave  that  bundle  and  leap  in,  or  throw  it 
in  and  stay  to  perish.  Pressing  it  to  his  bosom,  he  opened 
its  folds ;  and  there,  warmly  wrapped,  lay  two  little  chil- 
dren, whom  their  father  had  committed  to  his  care.  He 
kissed  them  and  bade  the  sailors  carry  his  affectionate  fare- 


52  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BE  A  UTY. 

well  to  his  master,  telling  him  how  faithfully  he  haA 
fulfilled  his  charge.  Then  lowering  the  children  into  the 
boat  which  pushed  off,  the  dark  man  stood  alone  on  the 
deck  to  go  down  with  the  sinking  ship,  a  noble  example 
of  bravery,  and  true  fidelity,  and  the  "love  that  seeketh  not 
its  own." 

BROTHERLY  LOVE  MEANS  LOVE   TO   ALL. 

If  any  man's  sorrows  need  our  sympathy,  his  bodily  or 
spiritual  wants  our  help,  let  us  think  no  more  of  asking 
whether  he  belongs  to  our  country  or  family,  our  party  or 
church,  than  if  we  saw  him  stretching  out  his  hands  from 
the  window  of  a  burning  house,  or  found  him,  like  the 
object  of  the  Samaritan's  kindness,  wallowing  in  a  pool  of 
blood.  Thus  Christ  loved  us;  and  thus  he  teaches  us  to  love 
one  another. — GUTHRIE. 

THE  BEAUTY  OF  LOVE. 

Oh,  there  is  something  beautiful  in  sympathy,  in  love, 
in  manly,   wifely,    motherly,    yea  and  neighborly   love. 
Why  was  it  that  our  city  was  aroused  with  excitement  last 
week  when  a  little  child  was  kidnapped  from  one  of  our 
streets?    Why  where  whole  columns  of  newspapers  filled 
with  the  story  of  a  little  child.     It  was  because  we  are  all 
one  in  love,  and  every  parent  said  :  "How  if  it  had  been 
my  Lizzie?  how  if  it  had  been  my  Mary?  how  if  it  had 
been  my  Maud  \  how  if  it  had  been  my  child  ?  how  if  there 
had  been  one  unoccupied  pillow  in  our  trundle  bed  to- 
night? how  if  my  little  one,  bone  to  my  bone,  and  flesh  of 
my  flesh,  were  to-night  carried  captive  into  some  den  of 
vagabonds,  never  to  come  back  to  me  ?  how  if  it  had  been 
my  sorrow  looking  out  of  the  window,  watching  and  wait- 
ing, that  sorrow  worse  than  death?''    Then  when  they 
found  her,  why  did  we  declare  the  news  all  through  the 


BR OTHERL  Y  LOVE.  53 

households,  and  everybody  that  knew  how  to  pray  said: 
"Thank  God!"  Because  we  are  all  one,  bound  by  one 
great  golden  chain  of  love. — TALMAGE. 

LOVE — WHAT  IT  IS 

Love  is  not  mere  good  nature.  We  speak  of  the  duty 
of  all  men  to  be  loving  in  disposition;  to  be  the  incarnation 
of  love  as  nearly  as  may  be;  and  one  says  "That  is  my 
doctrine.  I  do  not  believe  in  those  always  dry,  metaphy- 
sical men,  arguing,  and  arguing,  and  arguing."  Another 
man  says,  "  That  is  my  idea  about  it.  I  do  not  like  those 
men  who  are  always  combative.  I  like  a  mild,  meek,  and 
lowly  man."  I  do  not  mean  any  such  thing  as  that.  I  do 
not  mean  those  lazy,  sunshiny,  good  natured  men,  who 
have  no  particular  opinions,  and  who  would  about  as  soon 
have  things  go  one  way  as  another  ;  who  are  without  sharp 
and  discriminating  thought,  have  no  preferences,  no  indig- 
nation, no  conscience,  no  tire.  I  do  not  believe  in  any  such 
men.  I  like  to  see  a  man  who  has  got  snap  in  every  part 
of  him,  who  knows  how  to  think  and  to  speak,  and  to  put 
on  the  screw,  if  that  is  his  particular  mode  of  working. 

This  sweet  heart  quality  I  am  speaking  of,  is  the  atmos- 
phere in  which  every  other  faculty  works.  Do  you  sup- 
pose that  love  has  no  anger  ?  There  is  no  such  anger  as  that 
which  love  furnishes.  Do  you  suppose  that  when  a  mother 
sees  the  child,  that  is  both  herself  and  him  whom  she  loves 
better  than  herself,  the  child  in  whom  her  hope  is  bound 
up,  the  child  that  is  God's  glass  through  which  she  sees 
immortality,  the  child  that  is  more  to  her  than  her  own 
life,  doing  a  detestable  meanness,  that  she  is  not  angry 
and  indignant,  and  that  the  child  does  not  feel  the  smart  of 
physical  advice?  You  might  as  well  say  the  summer 
shower  has  no  thunder,  as  to  say  that  love  has  no  anger. 
— BEECHER. 


CHARITY. 

"  And  now  abideth  faith,  hope,   charity,   these  three;   but  the 
greatest  of  these  is  charity.  " — /  Cor.  xiii.  ij. 

"Lord,  lead  the  way  the  Savior  went, 

By  lane  and  cell  obscure, 
And  let  love's  treasures  still  be  spent, 

Like  His,  upon  the  poor. 

—WILLIAM  CROSWELL. 


A  PLEA  FOR  GREATER  LIBERALITY. 

Instead  of  cutting  down  the  support  of  those  mission- 
aries in  foreign  lands,  I  think  it  would  be  better  for  us  to 
cut  off  some  of  our  luxuries.  When  a  man  can  drive 
out  with  a  four  in-hand,  let  him  give  up  two  of  his  horses, 
and  give  what  he  saves  by  it  to  the  foreign  mission  field. 
He  could  enjoy  his  religion  better.  People  say  that  such 
a  man  died  worth  so  many  millions.  It  does  not  make 
any  differance  how  much  a  man  accumulates,  he  can't  die 
worth  anything.  He  isn't  worth  a  penny;  and  so  if  you 
want  to  save  money,  lay  it  up  in  heaven.  Make  yourself 
rich  by  investing  in  good,  institutions,  and  maintaining 
good  works.  I  want  to  be  rich  for  eternity,  not  for  time. 
— MOODY. 


OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  EXERCISING   CHARITY. 

X«>ne  of  us  liveth  to  himself;  no  man  or  woman  should. 
Yet  in  this  i-nuntry  what  an  immense  amount  of  power  is 
li»-t—  lost  to  God,  and  to  the  world  !  I  know  a  person  in 
an  humble  position— she  is  a  blacksmith's  wife— who, 
sparing  some  hours  each  day  for  the  work,  has  educated 
not  a  few  of  the  neglected  children  where  she  resides. 

64 


CHARITY.  65 

Her  name  though  unknown  to  fame,  is  known  to  heaven; 
and,  better  than  on  gold  or  marble  is  graven  on  loving 
hearts.  How  many  woman  there  are,  who,  treading  in 
her  humble  footsteps,  could  change  a  languid  into  a  bright, 
happy  blessed  life!  In  this  world  of  sin  and  misery,  time 
ought  not  to  be  wasted  on  trifles;  well-spent  hours,  like 
drops  of  oil  spreading  on  the  waters  diffuse  themselves  in 
blessing  and  pleasure  all  the  day.-— GUTHRIE. 

THE    RESULT   OF    CHARITY   IN   MISSIONS. 

Here  is  a  man  who  gives  a  thousand  dollars  to  the  mission- 
ary cause.  Men  cry  out,  "What  a  waste!  what's  the  use  of 
sending  New  Testaments  and  missionaries,  and  spending 
your  money  in  that  way?  Why  don't  you  send  plows,  and 
corn  threshers,  and  locomotives,  and  telegraphs!"  But  is 
it  a  waste?  Ask  the  nations  that  have  been  saved ;  '  'Have 
not  religious  always  preceded  financial  blessings?"  Show 
me  a  nation  where  the  Gospel  of  Christ  triumphs,  and  I 
will  show  you  a  community  prospered  in  a  worldly  sense. 
It  is  a  waste  to  comfort  the  distressed,  to  instruct  the  ig- 
norant, to  back  the  immoral,  to  capture  for  God  the  innu- 
merable hosts  of  men  who  erst  with  quick  feet  were  tramp- 
ing the  way  to  hell?  Alas!  for  the  man  who  has  nothing 
better  than  "greenbacks"  and  Government  securities! 
There  is  no  safe  investment  save  that  which  is  made  in  the 
bank,  of  which  God  holds  the  keys. — TALMAGE. 

THE    RIGHT   MOTIVE. 

To  be  praised,  and  to  have  the  reputation  of  liberality,  is 
the  way  many  people  have  of  taking  interest  in  what  they 
lend  to  the  Lord.  It  is  probable  that  benevolence  is  only 
the  cat's  paw  of  vanity,  when  our  obscure  and  casual  kind- 
ness seem  to  us  like  pale,  inodorous  flowers  grown  in  a 
solitary  wood,  and  only  public  charities  have  color  and 


5f,  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

fnurrunce.  A  man  should  fear  when  he  only  enjoys  what 
L'ood  lie  does  publicly.  Is  it  not  the  publicity  rather  than 
tluj  charity  he  loves  ?  Is  it  not  vanit}^  rather  than  benevo- 
lence, that  irives  such  charities?  A  man  must  be  very  rich 
in  secret  charities  before  he  can  bear  the  strain  of  public 
beneficence.  — BEECHER. 

TRUE    CHARITY. 

If  men  valued  the  truth  as  they  do  their  goods  and  their 
houses,  they  would  not  regard  error  with  such  cool  content- 
ment. The  cant  of  the  present  day  cries  '  'Charity,  Char- 
ity." As  if  it  were  not  the  truest  charity  to  grow  indig- 
nant with  that  which  ruins  souls.  It  is  not  uncharitable  to 
warn  men  against  poisonous  adulterations  of  their  food,  or 
invasion  of  their  rights;  and  surely  it  can  not  be  more  un- 
charitable to  put  them  upon  their  guard  against  that  which 
will  poison  or  rob  their  souls. — SPURGEON. 


CHEERFULNESS. 


"  Rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway  ;     and  again  I  say  rejoice.  "- 

Phil,  iv:  4. 

' '  Let  us  gather  up  the  sunbeams, 

Lying  all  around  our  path ; 
Let  us  keep  the  wheat  and  roses, 

Casting  out  the  thorns  and  chaff. 
Let  us  find  our  sweetest  comfort 

In  the  blessings  of  to-day, 
With  a  patient  hand  removing 

All  the  briars  from  the  way." 


CHEERFULNESS  IN  CONTENTMENT. 

The  way  to  happiness  does  not  lie  in  attempting  to 
bring  our  circumstances  up  to  our  minds,  but  our  minds 
down  to  our  circumstances.  Many  birds  wear  a  finer 
coat  than  the  lark,  nor  is  there  any  that  dwells  in  a  low- 
lier home ;  yet  which  of  the  feathered  songsters  soars 
so  high,  or  sings  so  cheerily,  or  teaches  man  so  well  how 
to  leave  the  day's  cares  and  labors  tor  the  bosom  of  his 
family,  as  when,  neither  envying  the  peacock  his  splendid 
plumage,  nor  the  proud  eagle  her  lofty  realm,  it  drops 
singing  into  its  grassy  nest  to  caress  its  young,  and  with 
its  wings  to  shield  them  from  the  cold  dews  of  the  night  ? 
Let  ours  be  the  cheerful  happiness  of  Him  who,  content 
with  little,  pleased  with  whatever  pleases  the  Father,  care* 
ful  for  nothing,  thankful  for  anything,  prayerful  for  and 
in  everything,  can  say  with  Paul,  "I  have  learned  in 
whatsoever  state  I  am,  to  be  content." — GUTHRIE 


CHEERFULNESS  GOOD  FOR  THE  HEALTH. 

One  reason  why  godliness  is  profitable  unto  the  things 


58  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

of  the  life  that  now  is,  is  because  it  cultivates  cheerful- 
ness, and  cheerfulness  is  good  for  a  man's  physicial 
health.  It  will  not  restore  a  broken  down  constitution, 
or  drive  rheumatism  from  the  limbs,  or  neuralgia  from 
the  temples,  or  pleurisy  from  the  side  ;  but  it  puts  one  in 
such  a  condition  as  is  most  favorable  for  physical  health. 
That  I  believe,  and  that  I  avow.  Everybody  knows  that 
buoyancy  of  spirit  is  good  physical  advantage.  Gloom, 
unrest,  dejection  are  at  war  with  every  pulsation  of  the 
heart,  and  with  every  respiration  of  the  lungs.  It  low- 
ers the  vitality,  it  slackens  the  circulation,  while  exhil- 
eration  of  spirit  pours  the  very  balm  of  heaven  through 
all  the  currents  of  life. — TALMAGE. 


LIVING  IN  AN   ATMOSPHERE  OF    CHEERFULNESS. 

A  man's  house  should  be  on  the  hill  top  of  cheerfulness 
and  serenity,  so  high  that  no  shadows  rest  upon  it,  and 
where  the  morning  comes  so  early,  and  the  evening  tarries 
so  late,  that  the  days  has  twice  as  many  golden  hours  as 
those  of  other  men.  He  is  to  be  pitied  whose  house  is  in 
some  valley  of  grief  between  the  hills,  with  the  longest 
night  and  the  shortest  day.  Home  should  be  center  of 
joy,  equatorial  and  tropical. — BEECHER. 

THE   CHRISTIAN  S   PRIVILEGE. 

The  same  Lord  who  hath  bidden  us  "  quit  yourselves 
like  men;  be  strong,"  has  also  said,  "Rejoice  in  the 
Lord  alway."  The  believer's  life  has  its  sweets,  and  these 
are  of  the  choicest :  What  is  more  joyful  than  the  joy  of 
a  saint,  what  more  happy  than  the  happiness  of  a  believer? 
I  will  not  condescend  to  make  a  comparison  between  our 
joy  and  the  mirth  of  fools  ;  I  will  go  no  further  than 
a  contrast.  Their  mirth  is  as  the  crackling  of  thorns, 
which  spit  fire,  and  make  a  noise  and  a  flash,  but  there  is 


CHEERFULNESS.  59 

no  heat,  and  they  are  soon  gone  out,  nothing  come  of  it. 
But  the  Christian's  delight  is  like  a  steady  coal  fire. 
You  have  seen  the  grate  full  of  coals  all  burning  red, 
and  the  whole  mass  of  coal  has  seemed  to  be  one  great 
glowing  ruby,  and  everybody  who  has  come  into  the  room 
out  of  the  cold  has  delighted  to  warm  his  hands,  for  it 

O  ' 

gives  out  a  steady  heat.  Such  are  our  joys.  I  would 
sooner  possess  the  joy  of  Christ  five  minutes,  than  the 
mirth  of  fools  for  half  a  century. — SPURGEON. 

CHEERFULNESS  HELPFUL  TO  OTHERS. 

God  has  put  us  here  to  make  the  world  brighter,  hap- 
pier and  better  by  our  lives,  and  by  helping  bear  one  an- 
other's burdens.  Every  one  of  us  should  study  how  he 
can  be  a  blessing  to  others.  Let  us  cheer  up  the  discour- 
aged. If  the  love  of  God  beats  in  warm  pulsations  in  our 
hearts,  how  easy  it  will  be  to  win  souls  for  Christ!  ] 
have  known  a  whole  family  to  be  won  to  Christ  by  a  smile. 
We  must  get  the  wrinkles  out  of  our  brows,  and  we  must 
have  smiling  faces.  The  world  is  after  the  best  thing, 
and  we  must  show  them  that  we  have  something  better 
than  they  have. — MOODY. 


CHILDREN. 


"  But  Jesus  said  suffer  little  children,  and  forbid  them  not,  to 
come  unto  me,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven" — Matt, 
xix:  14. 

"Is  anything  so  innocent, 

So  lovely  sweet  and  mild, 
As  the  budding  thought,  the  untrained  soul 
Of  a  tender  little  child?" 

— CHARLES  B.  MANLY. 


CHILDREN   GONE. 

Some  are  from  infancy  light  and  happy — they  romp, 
they  fly.  You  can  hear  their  swift  feet  in  the  hall.  Their 
loud  laughter  rings  through  the  house,  or  in  the  woods 
bursts  into  a  score  of  echoes.  At  night  you  can  hardly 
hush  their  glad  hearts  for  slumber,  and  in  the  morning 
they  wake  you  with  their  singing.  Alas  !  if  then  they 
leave  you,  and  you  no  more  hear  their  swift  feet  in  the 
hall,  and  their  loud  laughter  through  the  house,  or  in  the 
woods  bursting  into  a  score  of  echoes;  if  they  wake  you  no 
more  in  the  morning  with  their  sweet  song;  if  the  color  go 
out  of  the  rose  and  the  leaves  fall;  if  angels  for  once  grow 
jealous,  and  want  what  you  cannot  spare;  if  packed  away 
in  the  trunk  or  drawer  there  be  silent  garments  that  once 
fluttered  with  youthful  life,  and  by  mistake  you  call  some 
other  child  by  the  name  of  the  one  departed — ah  me  !  ah 
me !  — TALMAGE. 


HOW  TO  TREAT    CHILDREN. 

There  are  many  persons  who  have  heard  so  much  of 
family  government  that  they  think  there  cannot  be  too 

60 


CHILDREN.  61 

* 

much  of  it.  They  imprison  their  children  in  stiff  rooms, 
where  a  fly  is  a  band  of  music  in  the  empty  silence,  and 
govern  at  morning,  at  noon,  and  at  night,  and  the  child 
goes  all  day  long  like  a  shuttle  in  the  loom,  back  and  for- 
ward, hit  at  both  sides.  Children  subjected  to  such  treat- 
ment are  apt  to  grow  up  infidels,  through  mere  disgust. 

Many  children  grow  up  like  plants  under  bell  glasses. 
They  are  surrounded  only  by  artifical  and  prepared  influ- 
ences. There  are  house  bred,  room-bred  nurse-bred, 
mother-bred — everything  but  self-bred.  The  object  of 
training  is  to  teach  the  child  to  take  care  of  himself;  but 
many  parents  use  their  children  only  as  a  kind  of  spool  on 
which  to  reel  off  their  own  experience ;  and  they  are 
bounded  and  corded  until  they  perish  by  inanity,  or  break 
all  bonds  and  cords,  and  rush  to  ruin  by  reaction. — 
BEECHER. 


PATIENCE   WITH   CHILDREN. 

In  planting  beans  the  old  practice  was  to  put  three  in 
each  hill:  one  for  the  worm,  one  for  the  crow,  and  one  to 
live  and  produce  the  crop.  In  teaching  children,  we  must 
give  line  upon  line,  and  precept  upon  precept,  repeating 
the  truth  which  we  would  inculcate,  till  it  becomes  impossi- 
ble for  the  child  to  forget  it.  We  may  well  give  the  lesson 
once,  expecting  the  child's  frail  memory  to  lose  it,  twice 
reckoning  that  the  devil,  like  an  ill  bird  will  steal  it,  thrice, 
hoping  that  it  will  take  root  downward,  and  bring  forth 
fruit  upward  to  the  glory  of  God. — SPURGEON. 

BRAVE   CHILDREN. 

When  the  Lawrence  mills  were  on  fire  a  number  of 
years  ago,  after  they  had  fallen  in  there  was  only  one  room 
left  entire,  and  in  it  were  three  mission  Sunday-School  chil- 
dren imprisoned.  The  crowd  got  shovels,  and  picks,  and 


62 


GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 


crowbars,  and  were  soon  working  to  set  the  children  free. 
M- lit  came  on,  and  they  had  not  yet  reached  the  children. 
When  thev  were  near  them,  by  some  mischance  a  lantern 
bn.ke  .-Hid 'the  ruins  caught  fire.  They  tried  to  put  it  out 
but  could  not  succeed.  They  could  talk  with  the  children 
and  even  pass  them  some  food,  and  encourage  them  to  keep 
up.  But,  alas,  the  flames  drew  nearer  and  nearer  to  this 
pri-on.  Superhuman  were  the  efforts  made  to  rescue  the 
children;  the  men  fought  bravely  back  the  flames;  but  the 
fire  gained  fresh  strength  and  returned  to  claim  its  victims. 
The  efforts  of  the  fireman  were  hopeless.  When  the  chil- 
dren knew  their  fate,  they  knelt  down  and  commenced  to 
sing  the  little  hymn  they  had  been  taught  in  their  Sunday- 
school  days,  O,  how  sweet — :  "Let  others  seek  a  home 
below,  where  flames  devour  and  waves  overflow."  The 
flames  had  now  reached  them;  the  stifling  smoke  began  to 
pour  in  their  little  room,  and  they  sank,  one  by  one,  upon 
tli-'  floor.  A  few  moments  more  and  the  fire  circled  around 
them  and  then  their  souls  were  taken  into  the  bosom  of 
God. — MOODY. 


PROPER   SUBJECTS   FOR  BAPTISM. 

Hear  the  argument  of  some:  "What  an  oversight  on  the 
part  of  the  Lord,  in  the  covenant  of  circumcision,  not  to 
ohserve  that  a  child  eight  days  old  could  not  understand 
what  it  was  about !  What  a  waste  of  piety  to  baptize 
an  infant  of  days  when  it  cannot  understand  what  you 
are  doing  to  it.  It  cries,  poor  thing;  therefore,  how 
ridiculous  to  baptize  it!  It  plucks  the  preacher's  gown, 
or  chuckles  and  coos  in  the  preacher's  arms;  therefore  how 
absurd  to  admit  it  into  the  covenant!  For  myself  let  me 
say  that  when  I  baptize  a  child  I  baptise  human  life, — 
human  life,— life  redeemed  by  the  Son  of  God.  The  infant 
is  something  more  than  an  infant,  it  is  humanity;  it  is  an 


CHILDREN.  63 

heir  of  Christ's  immortality.  God  not  only  baptizes  great 
trees,  but  the  daisies  as  well.  He  enriches  Lebanon  and 
Bashan  with  rain,  but  does  He  not  also  hang  the  dew  of 
the  morning  upon  the  shrinking  rose  ?  Account  for  it  as 
you  please,  children  are  under  the  covenant. 

The  child  does  not  understand  the  alphabet,  do  not  teach 
it.  You  say  the  child  will  understand  by  and  by ;  exactly 
so;  that  answer  is  good;  and  by  and  by  the  child  will 
understand  that  it  was  baptised  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  three  persons  in 
one  God. — PARKER. 


A  CHILDREN'S  HEAVEN. 

Heaven  is  greatly  made  up  of  little  children — sweet  buds 
that  have  never  blown,  or  which  deatn  has  plucked  from  a 
mother's  bosom  to  lay  on  his  own  cold  breast,  just  when 
they  were  expanding  flower-like  from  the  sheath,  and 
opening  their  engaging  beauties  in  the  budding  time  and 
spring  of  life.  "Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  In- 
deed it  may  be  that  God  does  with  his  heavenly  garden  as 
we  do  with  our  own  gardens.  He  may  chiefly  stock  it 
from  nurseries,  and  select  for  transplanting  what  is  yet  in 
its  young  and  tender  age — flowers  before  they  have 
bloomed,  and  trees  ere  they  begin  to  bear. — GUTHEIE. 


CHRIST. 


"  Christ  came,  who  is  wer  all,  God  blessed  forever:1— Rom. 


•'  Crown  Him  with  many  crowns, 

The  Lamb  upon  His  throne; 
Hark!  how  the  heavenly  anthem  drowns 

All  music  but  its  own. 

"  Awake,  my  soul  and  sing 

Of  Him  who  died  for  thee, 
And  hail  Him  as  thy  matchless  king 

Through  all  eternity." 

— MATTHEW  BBIDGES. 


NO  NAME    LIKE   HIS. 

There  is  no  name  like  His  for  us.  It  is  more  imperial 
than  (.'a'-ar's,  more  musical  than  Beethoven's,  more  con- 
quering than  Charlemagne's,  more  eloquent  than  Cicero's. 
It  throbs  with  all  life.  It  weeps  with  all  pathos.  It 
groans  with  all  pain.  It  stoops  with  all  condescension.  It 
breathes  with  all  perfume.  Who  like  Jesus  to  set  a 
broken  bone,  to  pity  a  homeless  orphan,  to  nurse  a  sick 
man.  to  take  a  prodigal  buck  without  any  scolding,  to 
illumine  a  cemetery  all  ploughed  with  graves,  to  make  a 
qu<-en  unto  (io.l  out  of  the  lost  woman  of  the  street,  to 

:i  tin-  tear-  of  human  sorrow  in  a  lachrymactory  that 
never  >hall  be  broken  '.  Who  has  such  an  eye  to  see  our 

1.  siu-h  a  lip  to  kiss  away  our  sorrow,  such  a  hand  to 
•snatch  u-i  out  of  the  fire,  such  a  foot  to  trample  our  ene- 
mies, such  a  heart  to  embrace  all  our  necessities? — TAL- 
HAOE. 

64 


CHRIST.  65 

HIS  COMPASSION. 

The  miracles  of  Christ  were,  almost  all  of  them,  mere 
acts  of  benevolence.  He  was  poor  ;  he  had  neither  rai- 
ment nor  money  to  give  ;  and  yet  there  was  suffering 
round  about  him,  and  he  relieved  it.  The  miracles  of 
Christ  were  never  wrought  in  an  ostentatious  way.  Never 
were  they  wrought  for  the  purpose  of  exalting  himself. 
They  were  not  employed  by  Him  when  arguments  failed, 
to  carry  men  away  by  superstitious  enthusiasm.  Multi- 
tudes resorted  to  Him  for  help — the  sick,  the  blind,  the 
deaf,  lepers,  all  kinds  of  unfortunate  people  ;  and  mir- 
acles were  His  means  of  bestowing  charity  upon  them. 
No  hospital  had  He  to  which  He  could  send  them  ;  He 
was  His  own  hospital.  His  miracles  were  His  general 
acts  of  kindness.  As  laid  down  in  the  gospel  they  rep- 
resent the  heart  of  God. — BEECHEK. 


THE   GLORIOUS   CONQUEROR. 

Christ  has  forever  overcome  all  His  foes,  and  divided  the 
spoil  upon  the  battle-field,  and  now,  even  at  this  day,  is 
He  enjoying  the  well-earned  reward  of  His  fearful  strug- 
gle. Lift  up  your  eyes  to  the  battlements  of  Heaven — 
the  great  metropolis  of  God.  The  pearly  gates  are  wide 
open,  and  the  city  shines  with  her  jeweled  walls  like  a 
bride  adorned  for  her  husband.  Do  you  see  the  angels 
crowding  to  the  battlements?  At  last  there  is  heard  the 
song  of  a  trumpet,  and  the  angels  hurry  to  the  gates — 
the  army  of  the  redeemed.  "The  church  of  the  first-born" 
is  approaching  the  city.  Hark  to  the  shout  of  acclama- 
tion! "Behold  the  Lord  cometh  with  ten  thousands  of 
His  saints. "  Hearken  to  them  as  they  enter.  Every  one 
of  them  waving  his  helmet  in  the  air,  cries,  "Unto  Him 
that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  His  blood, 


66  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

unto  Him  bo  honor,  and  glory,  and  dominion,  and  power, 
for  ever  and  ever." 

Mark  the  heroes  as  they  march  along  the  golden  streets, 
everywhere  meeting  an  enthusiastic  welcome  from  the 
angels  who  have  kept  their  first  estate.  On,  on  they  pour, 
those  countless  legions — was  there  ever  such  a  spectacle? 
For  four  thousand  years  streams  on  the  army  of  Christ's 
redeemed.  But  see  !  He  comes.  I  see  his  immediate  her- 
ald, clad  in  a  garment  of  camel's  hair,  and  a  leathern  girdle 
about  His  loins.  The  Prince  of  the  house  of  David  is 
not  far  behind.  Let  every  eye  be  open.  He  comes !  He 
comes!  He  comes!  It  is  Christ  Himself!  Lash  the 
snow-white  coursers  up  the  everlasting  hills;  "  Lift  up 
your  heads,  X),  ye  gates,  and  be  ye  lifted  up  ye  everlasting 
doors,  that  the  King  of  Glory  may  come  in."  See,  He 
enters  in  the  midst  of  acclamations.  It  is  He !  but  He  is 
not  crowned  with  thorns.  It  is  He !  but  though  His  hands 
wear  the  scar,  they  are  stained  with  blood  no  longer. 
His  eyes  are  as  a  flame  of  fire,  and  on  His  head°are 
many  crowns,  and  He  hath  on  His  vesture  and  on  His 
thigh  written,  KING  OF  KINGS,  AND  LORD  OF 
LORDS.  Clothed  in  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood,  He  stands 
confessed  the  emperor  of  heaven  and  earth.—  SPURGEON. 

WORTHY   TO   RECEIVE    PRAISE. 

We  are  told  that  when  John  was  in  the  spirit  on  the 
Lord's    day,    and    being    caught  up,    he    heard  a  shout 
around  him,  ten  thousand  times  ten  thuosand,  and  thous- 
ands of  thousands  of   voices,      "Worthy  is    the    Lamb 
that  was  slain  to  receive  power,  and   riches,  and  wisdom, 
•tn-nirth,  and  honoi,  and  glory,  and  blessing."    Yes, 
s  worthy  of  all  this.     Heaven  can  not  speak  too  well 
Oh,    that  earth  would  take  up  the  echo,  and 
a  with  heaven  in  singing  that  doxology.     I  would  to 


CHRIST.  67 

God  that  I  had  the  voice  of  an  angel,  that  I  might  win 
your  soul  to  the  Son  of  God.  A  man  was  preaching  in 
Brooklyn  to-day  about  the  white  robes,  and  a  friend  said 
the  halls  of  that  building  never  heard  such  preaching  be- 
fore. And  the  minister  said  they  might  be  wearing  those 
robes  a  good  deal  sooner  than  they  thought.  And  just  as 
he  got  through  he  drew  up  both  his  hands  and  said, 
"Jesus,"  and  fell  dead.  Would  that  I  could  stand  aside 
and  let  him  take  my  place  for  five  minutes. — MOODY, 

HIS  CROWN. 

There  are  crowns  worn  by  living  monarchs,  of  which  it 
would  be  difficult  to  estimate  the  value.  The  price  paid 
for  their  jewels  is  the  least  part  of  it.  They  cost  thous- 
ands of  lives  and  rivers  of  human  blood ;  yet  in  His  es- 
teem, and  surely  in  ours  also,  Christ's  crown  outweighs 
them  all.  He  gave  his  His  life  for  it ;  and  alone,  of  all 
monarchs,  He  was  crowned  at  His  coronation  by  the  hands 
of  Death.  Others  cease  to  be  kings  when  they  die.  By 
dying  He  became  a  king.  He  laid  His  head  in  the  dust 
that  He  might  become  "head  over  all,"  He  entered  His 
kingdom  through  the  gates  of  the  grave,  and  ascended 
the  universe  by  the  steps  of  a  cross. — GUTHRIE. 

THE   INTERPRETER   OF   LIFE. 

Life  is  a  dream,  a  riddle,  a  mystery,  a  difficult  problem. 
But  there  is  one  interpreter.  What  is  his  name  ?  Where 
can  he  be  found?  His  name  is  Jesus  Christ,  and  he  can 
be  found  wherever  there  is  a  heart  that  wants  him.  You 
have  a  dream — you  cannot  call  it  by  any  other  name — 
about  sin.  You  know  there  is  something  wrong  some- 
where. You  cannot  explain  it;  you  cannot  set  it  down  in 
order,  proposition  after  proposition.  It  is  as  unsubstantial 
as  a  dream,  and  impalpable  as  a  vision.  Yet  it  haunts  you 


68  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

and  you  want  to  know  more  about  it.  Christ  is  the  Inter- 
preter, and  He  alone  can  explain  what  sin  is;  show  it  in  its 
reality,  and  give  the  soul  to  feel  how  terrible  a  thing  it  is. 
You  have  dreams  about  truth.  Sometimes  you  see  an  image 
that  you  think  is  the  very  image  of  truth  herself.  Some- 
times that  angel  comes  quite  near  you,  and  you  are  almost 
on  the  point  of  laying  your  hand  on  the  glittering  vision. 
You  cannot  quite  do  so.  It  leaves  you,  escapes  you, 
mocks  you  !  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Interpreter  of  that  dream. 
Why  ?  Because  he  is  the  truth. — PARKEB. 


CONFESSION. 


"My  Son,  give,  I  pray  thee,  glory  to  the  Lord  God  of  Israel 
and  make  confession  unto  him." — Jos.  vii :  19. 

"I  bring  my  sins  to  Thee, 

The  sins  I  can  not  count, 
That  all  may  cleansed  be, 

In  Thy  once  opened  Fount; 
I  briag  them  Savior,  all  to  Thee ; 

The  burden  is  too  great  for  me." 


UNCONSCIOUS    SELF-CONFESSION. 

A  company  of  persons  suspected  of  crime  were  brought 
before  a  judge.  Only  one  of  them  was  guilty,  but  how  to 
find  out  which  one,  was  the  question.  The  judge  put  his 
ear  against  the  heart  of  each  one  and  listened.  When  he 
came  to  the  guilty  one,  he  heard  in  every  thump  of  his 
heart  an  acknowledgment  of  his  crime.  And  so,  though 
all  may  seem  fair  in  our  case,  if  we  could  listen  at  the  door 
of  our  hearts,  every  pulsation  would  confess,  Guilty! 
Guilty ! — TALMAGE. 

CONFESSION  ASSURES  PARDON. 

If  I  am  working  beside  a  man,  and  I  see  that  he  tries  to 
shirk  and  shift  his  labor  upon  me,  I  am  angry  with  him. 
But  if  he  says  to  me,  "I  am  wounded,  and  cannot  work," 
or,  "I  am  lame,"  or,  "sick,"  then  the  thought  comes  tome 
at  once,  "you  shall  not  work;  I  will  help  you."  And  so  if 
a  man  says  to  us,  "I  know  I  did  wrong;  but  I  am  weak. 
Blame  me  as  little  as  you  can,"  that  very  confession  dis- 
arms us,  and  we  think  better  of  him  than  we  did  before- 

69 


70  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

Therefore  it  is  that  God  so  exhorts  us  to  confess  our  sins  to 
Him.  God  is  like  us  to  this  extent  that  whatever  in  us  is 
good,  is  like  God.— BEECHER. 

COMING   TO  THE   KING   AS   A   BEGGAR. 

A  great  monarch  was  accustomed  on  certain  set  occasions 
to  entertain  all  the  beggars  of  the  city.     Around  him  were 
placed  his  courtiers,  all  clothed  in  rich  apparel;  the  beggars 
sat  at  the  same  table  in  their  rags  of  poverty.     Now  it  came 
to  pass  that  on  a  certain  day,  one  of  the  courtiers  had 
spoiled  his  silken  apparel,  so  that  he  dared  not  put  it  on, 
and  he  felt,  "I  can  not  go  to  the  King's  feast  to-day,  for  my 
robe  is  foul."    He  sat  weeping  till  the  thought  struck  him, 
"To-morrow  when  the  King  holds  his  feast,  some  will  come 
as  courtiers  happily  decked  in  their  beautiful  array,  but 
•others  will  come  and  be  made  quite  as  welcome  who  will 
be  dressed  in  rags.     Well,  well,"  said  he,   "  so  long  as  I 
may  see  the  King's  face,  and  sit  at  the  royal  table,  I  will 
enter  among  the  beggars."    So  without  mourning  because 
he  had  lost  his  silken  habit,  he  put  on  the  rags  of  a  beggar 
and  saw  the  King's  face  as  well  as  if  he  had  worn  the  scar- 
let and  fine  linen.     My  soul  has  done  this  full  many  a  time, 
when  her  evidences  of  salvation  have  been  dim;  and  I  bid 
you  do  the  same  when  you  are  in  like  case,  if  you  cannot 
come  to  Jesus  as  a  saint,  come  as  a  sinner;  only  do  come 
with  simple  faith  to  Him,  and  you  shall  receive  joy  and 
peace.  — SPURGEON. 

CONFESSION  A  CONDITION   OF  BLESSING. 

When  Job  was  confessing  his  sin,  God  turned  his  cap- 
tivity and  heard  his  prayer.  God  will  hear  our  prayer  and 
turn  our  captivity  when  we  take  our  true  place  before  Him, 
and  confess  and  forsake  our  transgressions.  It  was  when 
laaiah  cried  out  before  the  Lord,  "I  am  undone,"  that  the 


CONFESSION.  71 

blessing  came.  It  was  when  David  said,  "I  have  sinned!" 
that  God  dealt  in  mercy  with  him.  Jonah  was  cast  into 
the  sea,  and  there  was  an  ease  in  the  ship;  Achan  was 
stoned  and  the  plague  was  stayed.  Out  with  Jonah,  out 
with  Achan;  and  there  will  follow  ease  and  quiet  in  the 
soul  presently. — MOODY. 

CONFESSION   OF   PAUL,    DAVID   AND   EZRA. 

Confession,  self-abasement  has  characterized  not  prophets 
and  apostles  only,  but  the  elect  of  God  in  every  age  of  the 
Church.  "I,"  said  St.  Paul,  "am  the  chief  of  sinners." 
"I,"  said  David,  "was  as  a  beast  before  Thee."  "I,"  said 
Ezra,  "am  ashamed,  and  blush  to  lift  up  my  face  to  Thee,O 
my  God;"  and  so  certainly  does  a  man  grow  humbler  as  he 
grows  holier.  It  is  with  self-esteem  as  with  the  column  of 
mercury  in  the  tube  of  a  barometer — the  higher  we  ascend, 
it  sinks  the  lower.  What  more  striking  illustration  than 
that  of  Heaven  itself  affords?  There,  purified  from  all 
conceit  and  pride,  perfect  both  in  humility  and  in  holiness, 
the  saints,  as  if  unworthy  to  wear  on  their  heads  what 
Jesus  won  on  His  cross,  cast  their  crowns  at  His  feet. — 
GUTHRIE. 


CONSCIENCE. 


•'  And  herein  do  I  exercise  myself,  to  have  always  a  conscience 
void  of  offense  toward  God,  and  toward  men.  "-Acts  xxiv :  16. 
"What  stronger  breast-plate  than  a  heart  untainted? 

Thrice  is  he  armed  that  hath  his  quarrel  just; 
And  he  but  naked  though  locked  up  in  steel, 
Whose  conscience  with  un justice  is  corrupted." 

— SHAKESPEARE,  HENRY  VI. 

"The  mind  that  broods  o'er  guilty  woes 
So  like  the  scorpion  girt  by  fire. "  —BYRON. 

AN   APARTMENT   OF  THE   SOUL. 

Conscience  is  an  apartment  of  the  soul— an  apartment 
wonderfully  constructed.  It  seems  to  be  central.  It  is 
connected  with  every  other  apartment  in  the  dwelling. 
On  examination,  however,  it  will  be  found  that,  for  the 
most  part,  the  doors  are  all  locked.  The  floor  is  thick 
with  dust.  The  dust  is  its  carpet.  The  room  is  very  dark. 
The  windows  are  glazed  over  with  webbed  dirt.  The  light 
is  shut  out  and  the  whole  apartment  is  dismal.  The 
man  who  owns  the  house  does  not  frequent  this  room.— 
BEECHER. 

CONSCIENCE  MAY  BECOME  HARDENED. 
It  is  a  very  terrible  thing  to  let  conscience  begin  to  grow 
hard,  for  it  soon  chills  into  northern  iron  and  steel.  It  is 
like  the  ftve/.intr  of  a  pond.  The  first  film  of  ice  is  scarce- 
ly p.Ttvptible;  keep  the  water  stirring  and  you  will  prevent 
1  he  frost  from  hardening  it;  but  once  let  it  film  over  and 
mn:iin  ^uiot,  the  ghi/»-  thickens  over  the  surface,  and  it 

72 


CONSCIENCE.  73 

thickens  still ,  and  at  last  is  so  firm  that  a  wagon  might  be 
drawn  over  the  solid  ice.  So  with  conscience,  it  films  over 
gradually,  until  at  last  it  becomes  hard  and  unfeeling,  and 
J3  not  crushed  even  with  ponderous  loads  of  iniquity. — 
SPURGEON. 


CONSCIENCE   UNIVERSALLY  SIN-STRICKEN. 

The  universal  conscience  of  mankind  is  stricken  with  a 
sense  of  guilt.  Alarmed  by  an  instinctive  sense  of  danger, 
men  have  felt  the  need  of  reconcilation;  and  under  a  sense 
of  His  displeasure,  have  everywhere  and  in  all  ages, 
sought  to  make  their  peace  with  God.  For  this  end  altars 
were  raised,  and  temples  were  built;  sacrifices  offered,  and 
penances  endured.  If  the  colossal  structures  of  Egypt, 
and  the  lovely  temples  of  Greece  and  Rome,  were  erected, 
as  well  to  adorn  the  state  as  to  please  the  gods,  it  was  less 
to  please  approving,  than  to  appease  angry  divinities,  that 
their  courts  resounded  with  the  cries  of  victims,  and  smok- 
ing altars  ran  red  with  blood.  So  much  did  the  heathen 
feel  their  need  of  peace,  such  store  did  they  set  by  it,  that 
many  of  them  sought  it  at  any  price.  They  would  buy 
peace  at  any  cost;  nor  did  they  shrink  from  giving  all  their 
fortune,  even  the  fruit  of  their  body,  for  the  sin  of  their 
souls.  For  peace  with  God,  the  Hindoo  walked  to  his  dis- 
tant temples  in  sandals  that,  set  with  spikes,  pierced  his 
flesh  at  every  step,  and  marked  all  the  long,  slow,  painful 
journey  with  a  track  of  blood;  for  peace  with  God,  the 
Syrian  led  his  sweet  boy  up  to  the  fires  of  Moloch,  and, 
unmoved  in  purpose  by  cries,  or  curses,  or  passionate  en- 
treaties, cast  him  shrieking  on  the  burning  pile;  for  peace 
wilh  God  the  Indian  mother  approached  the  river's  brink 
with  streaming  eyes  and  trembling  steps,  and  tearing  the 
suckling  from  her  bursting  heart,  kissed  it,  to  turn  away 
her  eyes,  and  fling  it  into  the  flood. — GUTHRIE. 


74  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

CONSCIENCE   KEEPS  A  RECORD. 

Conscience  obeyed,  or  conscience  violated,  records  itself 
upon  the  judgment  leaf,  that  one  leaf  in  every  human  heart. 
You  have  known  persons  who  were  near  drowning,  but 
tlx-v  were  afterwards  recuscitated,  and  they  have  told  you 
that  in  the  two  or  three  minutes  between  the  accident  and 
tin-  recuscitation,  all  their  past  life  flashed  before  them,  all 
they  had  ever  thought,  all  they  had  ever  done,  all  they  had 
over  -een  in  an  instant  came  before  them.  The  memory 
never  loses  anything.  It  is  only  a  folded  leaf.  It  is  only 
a  closed  book.  Though  you  be  an  octogenarian,  though 
you  be  a  nonagenarian,  all  the  thoughts  and  acts  of  your 
life  are  recorded  by  conscience  on  memory's  page,  whether 
you  recall  them  or  not.  That  leaf,  that  judgment  leaf  in 
my  heart,  that  judgment  leaf  in  your  heart,  will  decide  our 
condition  after  this  world  shall  have  five  thousand  million 
years  been  swept  out  the  heavens,  an  extinct  planet,  and 
time  itself  will  be  so  long  past  that  on  the  ocean  of  eternity 
it  will  seem  only  as  now  seems  a  ripple  on  the  Atlantic. — 
TALMAGE. 


CONSOLATION. 


"As  ye  are  partakers  of  the  sufferings,  so  shall  ye  be  also  of  the 
consolation. — n  Cor.  /'.•/. 

A  lily  said  to  a  threatening  cloud, 

That  in  sternest  garb  arrayed  him, 
"You  have  taken  my  Lord,  the  Sun,  away 

And  I  know  not  where  you  have  laid  him." 

"It  folded  its  leaves,  and  trembled  sore 

As  the  hours  of  darkness  pressed  it, 
But  at  morn,  like  a  bird,  in  beauty  shone, 

For  with  pearls  the  dews  had  dressed  it." 

"Then  it  felt  ashamed  of  its  fretful  thought, 

And  fain  in  the  dust  would  hide  it, 
For  the  night  of  weeping  had  jewels  brought, 

Which  the  pride  of  day  denied  it." 

—MBS.    SlGOUKNEY. 


COMFORT   IN   VIEW   OF   REWARD. 

If  you  are  ever  so  low  now  remember  that 

"A  few  more  rolling  suns,  at  most, 
Will  land  thee  on  fair  CanaanVcoast." 

Thy  head  may  be  crowned  with  thorny  troubles  now,  but 
it  shall  wear  a  starry  crown  directly;  thy  hand  may  be 
filled  with  cares — it  shall  grasp  a  harp  soon,  a  harp  full  of 
music.  Thy  garments  may  be  soiled  with  dust  now;  they 
shall  be  white  by  and  by.  Wait  a  little  longer.  Ah! 
beloved,  how  despicable  our  trials  and  troubles  will  seem 
when  we  look  back  upon  them!  Look  at  them  here  in  the 

75 


76  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

prospect,  they  seem  immense;  but  when  we  get  to  Heaven, 
we  shall  then, 

''With  transporting  joys  recount 
The  labors  of  our  feet." 

Our  trials  will  seem  to  us  nothing  at  all.  We  shall  talk 
to  one  another  about  them  in  Heaven,  and  find  all  the  more 
to  converse  about,  according  as  we  have  suffered  more  here 
below.  Let  us  go  on,  therefore;  and  if  the  night  be  ever 
1  irk,  remember  there  is  no  night  without  a  morning; 
and  that  morning  is  to  come  by  and  by. — SPURGEON 

WORDS  F.OR  WEEPING  MOTHERS. 

A  lady  had  a  little  child  that  was  dying.     She  thought  it 

was  resting  sweetly  in  the  arms  of  Jesus.     She  went  into 

the  room  and  the  child  asked  her:    "What  are  those  clouds 

and  mountains  thatl  see  so  dark?"  "Why,  Eddy,"  said  his 

mother,  ''there  are  no  clouds  nor  mountains,  you  must  be 

mistaken."     "Why.  yes,  I  see  great  mountains,  and  dark 

cloiuls,  anil  I  want  you  to  take  me  in  your  arms  and  carry 

me  over  the  mountains."     " Oh,"  said  the  mother,    "you 

must  pray  to  Jesus,  He  will  carry  you  safely."   My  friends 

the  dear  mother,  the  praying  mother,   may  comedo  your 

Iside  and  wipe  the  damp  sweat  from  your  brow,  but  they 

cannot  carry  you  over  Jordan  when  the  hour  comes.     This 

ther  said  to  her  little  boy,  "you  must  pray  that  the 

I  be  with  you  in  your  dying  moments."    And  the 

o  prayed,  but  the  boy  turned  to  her  and  said:    «  Don't 

hear  the  angels,  mother,  over  the  mountains,  calling 

•r  me,  and  I  cannot  go?  "     "My  dear  boy,  pray  to  Jesus" 

e .will  come;  He  alone  can  take  you."    And  the  boy 

s  eyes  and  prayed,  and  when  he  opened  them  a 

enly  smile  overspread  his  face  as  he  said,  "Jesus  has 

ne  to  carry  me  over  the  mountains/'     What  consolation 

J»t  tho  mother,  to  know  her  little  one  was  with  Jesus.- 


CONSOLATION.  77 

WEEP  NOT  AS  THOSE  THAT  HAVE  NO  HOPE. 

If  a  God  had  died,  the  terror  and  grief  could  barely  have 
exceeded  that  I  once  saw  in  the  case  of  a  mother  who  had 
set  her  affections  on  the  child  we  had  met  to  carry  to  the 
grave.  Seated  at  the  head  of  the  coffin,  she  seemed  a 
statue;  the  grand  work  of  some  master  hand,  to  represent 
the  deepest,  blackest  grief.  No  tears  were  on  her  blood- 
less cheek.  Fixed  on  the 'coffin,  her  eyes  never  left  it. 
She  neither  moved  nor  spake,  as  on  her  face  one  could  read 
these  words,  "my  heart  is  withered  like  grass."  Absorbed 
in  shadow,  it  mattered  as  little  to  her  as  to  the  dead,  who 
went  out,  or  who  came  in.  At  length  the  moment  came  to 
remove  the  body.  Then,  as  when  the  heavens  that  have 
been  gathering  blackness  break  out  into  a  blaze  of  flame 
and  roar  of  thunder,  burst  the  storm.  The  form  that  had 
looked  more  like  lifeless  marble  than  one  animate  with  life^ 
now  sprung  up,  threw  itself  on  the  coffin,  clung  to  it  with 
wails  to  pierce  a  heart  of  stone;  and,  when  gentle  force  was 
employed  to  unloose  her  arms,  she  walked  to  the  door  pat- 
ting the  poor  coffin;  and  saw  it  borne  out  of  her  sight  with 
an  expression  of  agony,  which,  as  she  fell  fainting  back 
into  the  arms  of  kind  neighbors,  seemed  to  cry,  ' '  Ye  have 
taken  away  my  god,  and  what  have  I  more  ?" 

It  is  not  so  we  are  to  love  our  dear  ones.  We  are  to 
love  oar  children  as  they  are  to  obey  their  parents,  "in 
the  Lord;"  never  forgetting  that  He  who  lends  may  resume 
His  gifts  whensoever  it  pleases  Him,  and  so  ever  seeking 
NI  our  nurseries  to  rear  plants  for  heaven,  and  so  train  up 
our  children  in  the  faith,  that  we  shall  have  the  infinite 
consolation  of  knowing,  if  death  enters  our  house  and 
plucks  them  from  our  arms,  that  our  loss  is  their  gain;  that 
if  a  chair  in  the  circle  by  our  fireside  is  empty,  a  blood- 
bought  throne  is  filled  in  heaven;  that  if  there  is  one  voice 
less  in  the  psalm  when  we  are  assembled  for  worship,  there 


78  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

is  one  more  ringing'sweet  and  clear  in  glory,  praising  Him 
through  whose  dying  love  and  in  blissful  presence  we  shall 
join  our  loved— to  weep  and  to  part  no  more.  Blessed 
Hope!  Sweet  Comfort!  Everlasting  Consolation  !— 
(it  ruiuE. 

COMFORT   AS   OF   A  MOTHER. 

"  As  one  whom  a  mother  comforteth,  so  will  I  comfort 
you."  You  know  there  is  no  cradle  song  like  a  mother's. 
Alter  the  excitement  of  the  evening  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  get  the  child  to  sleep.  If  the  rocking-chair  stop  a  mo- 
ment, the  eyes  are  wide  open;  but  the  mother's  patience 
and  the  mother's  soothing  manner  keep  on  until,  after  a 
while,  the  angel  of  slumber  puts  his  wing  over  the  pillow. 
Well,  my  dear  brothers  and  sisters  in  Christ,  the  time  will 
come  when  we  will  be  waiting  to  be  put  to  sleep.  The  clay  of 
our  life  will  be  done,  and  the  shadows  of  the  night  of  death 
will  be  gathering  round  us.  Then  we  want  God  to  soothe 
u-.  to  hush  us  to  sleep.  Let  the  music  at  our  going  not  be 
the  dirge  of  the  organ,  or  the  knell  of  the  church-tower,  or 
the  drumming  of  a  "  dead  march,"  but  let  it  be  the  consol- 
ing hush  of  a  mother's  lullaby.  Oh,  the  cradle  of  the 
grave  will  be  soft  with  the  pillow  of  all  the  promises. 
When  we  are  being  rocked  into  our  last  slumber,  I  want 
this  to  be  the  cradlesong :  "As one  whom  a  mother  com- 
forteth,  so  will  I  comfort  you." — TALMAGE. 

LIKE   SUNSHINE  THRO'   CLOUD. 

There  are  happy  and  easy  souls  that  are  buoyed  up  by 
inward  hopefulness  and  outward  prosperities,  who  can 
hardly  understand  the  need  of  so  much  being  said  about 
>  consolations,  and  who  scarcely  derive  any  lighter 
eotnfort  from  those  numerous  passages  in  the  word  of  God 
that  to  others  are  like  water  in  the  wilderness.  In  God's 


CONSOLATION.  79 

words  of  promise,  comfort  and  cheer,  there  is  a  singular 
sweetness  when  they  are  regarded  as  voices  sent  down  to 
men  in  their  struggles  through  life.  They  are  like  open 
glades  in  a  dark  forest,  where  the  sun  lies  on  warm  banks, 
the  father  of  many  flowers.  And  so  these  openings  with 
summer  in  them  have  peculiar  relish  and  charm  to  many. 
— BEECHEE. 


CONVERSION. 

"  Repent  ye  therefore,  and  be  converted" — Acts  Hi :  /p. 

"Oh,  happy  day!    When  first  I  felt. 
My  soul  with  deep  contrition  melt, 
And  saw  my  sins  of  crimson  guilt, 
All  cleansed  by  blood  on  Calvary  spilt." 

RESTITUTION. 

When  Zaccheus  was  converted,  he  gave  half  his  goods 
to  the  poor.  He  did  more  than  that;  he  said,  "if  I  have 
taken  anything  from  any  man,  falsely,  I  will  restore  him 
fore-fold."  It  made  a  great  stir  in  Jericho.  The  people 
said,  lkthere  is  a  true  disciple."  His  conversion  was  like 
a  Hashing  meteor— so  sudden.  You  must  remember  one 

o 

thing — conversion  means  something.  If  you  don't  give 
half  your  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  you  must  make  restitu- 
tion. If  you  have  lied  about  a  man,  if  you  have  slandered 
a  man,  if  you  have  abused  a  man,  go  and  tell  him  you  have 
done  him  an  injustice;  go  and  make  restitution.  I  felt 
much  encouraged  last  night;  a  man  came  into  the  inquiry 
room  and  said,  "Mr.  Moody,  I  want  you  to  forgive  me."' 
"  Why,"  said  t,  "I  have  got  nothing  to  forgive  you  for;  I 
nt  v.i- nut  von  before."  "Well,"  said  the  man,  "I  have 
bri-n  abusing  you  for  about  a  year.  I  was  here  last  night, 
and  I  Lfot  con  verted,  and  I  want  your  forgiveness."  There 
\\a-a  man  in  Brooklyn  who,  after  his  conversion,  said: 
icre  is  a  shoemaker's  bill  I've  been  owing  for  nine 

O 

rs;  I'll  go  and  pay  it."  He  did  so,  and  the  shoemaker 
-aid,  "  Well,  I  believe  in  that  kind  of  meetings  now."  He 
didn't  bi'lit-vr  in  them  before.  Conversion  implies  disci- 
pleskip  to  Jesus  Christ. — MOODY. 

80 


CONVERSION,  81 

DATE   OF   CONVERSION. 

Some  can  tell  the  time  of  their  conversion,  giving  day 
and  date,  the  hour,  the  providence,  the  place,  the  text,  the 
preacher,  and  all  the  circumstances  associated  with  it. 
They  can  show  the  arrow,  which,  shot  from  some  bow 
drawn  at  a  venture,  pierced  the  joints  of  their  armor,  and 
quivered  in  their  heart.  They  can  show  the  pebble  from 
the  brook,  that,  slung,  it  may  be,  by  a  youthful  hand,  but 
directed  of  God,  was  buried  in  the  forehead  of  their  giant 
sin.  It  is  not  so  however  with  all,  or  perhaps  with  most. 
Some,  so  to  speak,  are  still  born;  they  were  unconscious  of 
their  change;  they  did  not  know  when  or  how  it  happened; 
for  a  while  at  least  they  gave  hardly  a  sign  of  life. — 
GUTHRLE. 


REVIVAL   CONVERSIONS. 

I  have  more  faith  (put  this  down  in  your  memorandum- 
book),  I  have  more  faith  in  men  who  are  brought  to  God 
during  revivals  than  during  a  frigid  state  of  the  church. 
I  have  had  close  observation  in  these  things.  Stand  two 
men  side  by  side.  Let  them  have  equal  endowments. 
You  tell  me  that  this  man  was  brought  in  when  the  church 
was  very  cold,  and  the  other  was  brought  in  while  the 
church  was  very  warm  in  revivals.  I  will  say,  "Give 
me  the  last  one  ;  I  had  rather  have  him  than  five  of  the 
other  kind. 

When  are  we  going  to  get  the  world  converted  ?  When 
the  people  in  solid  columns,  march  into  the  Kingdom  of 
God,  not  by  ones,  but  by  tens,  fifties  and  hundreds,.  Oh, 
that  the  Lord  would  upturn  this  church  with  holy  revivals  ! 
Oh,  that  such  days  might  come  as  Richard  Baxter  saw  in 
Kidderminster,  as  Jonathan  Edwards  saw  in  Northamp- 
ton, as  McCheyne  saw  in  Dundee  !  "  O,  Lord,  revive  thy 
work !" — TALMAGE. 


82  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

FEELING  NOT  AN   INDEX   OF   CONVERSION. 

There  are  many  persons  whose  conversion  is  a  long  and 
severe  struggle,  during  which  they  alternate  week  after 
week,  and  month  after  month  between  hope  and  fear,  who, 
were  it  not  for  perplexing  their  minds  with  a  wrong  notion 
of  what  they  are  to  do  and  be  done  with,  might  go  up  the 
mountain  almost  without  going  through  the  valley.  It  is 
known  that  John  Wesley  went  well  nigh  three  years  before 
he  found  what  he  sought.  John  Bunyan  went  through 
awful  terrors,  as  a  consequence  of  a  long  continued  exer- 
cise of  mind,  before  he  found  religious  peace.  His  expe- 
riences are  embalmed  in  some  of  the  best  writing  in  the 
English  language.  It  is  my  impression  that  the  conver- 
sion of  Bunyan  might  as  well  have  been  a  work  of  days  as 
of  months.  The  difficulty  in  many  cases  results  from  an 
erroneous  apprehension  of  what  is  to  be  taken  as  evidence 
of  conversion,  Now,  to  be  a  Christian  is  to  obey  Christ, 
no  matter  how  you  feel.  If  a  person  trying  to  come  into 
the  discipleship  of  Christ,  expects  to  do  so  by  sitting  down 
and  waiting  for  a  certain  preconceived  state  of  mind  to 
come  to  him,  as  he  might  wait  for  a  pair  of  wings  to  sprout 
out  of  his  shoulders,  he  must  not  be  surprised  if  he  is 
disappointed. — BEECHER. 


CONVERSION   A   SIMPLE   DOCTRINE. 

When  we  preach  fine  sermons  our  hearers  say,  "That 
was  prettily  put."  They  do  not  so  much  notice  what  we 
taught,  as  how  we  taught  it,  and  this  is  a  great  evil.  Even 
so  if  you  go  and  talk  about  your  salvation  to  your  neigh- 
bor, and  narrate  it  eloquently,  she  will  say,  "Mrs.  So-and- 
so  has  been  here,  and  told  me  about  her  conversion  in  such 

Msautitul  language;  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  heard  such 
elegant  sentences;  it  was  most  delightful  to  hear  her." 

"What  did  she  say?"     «  I  do  not  know  what  she  said,  but 


CONVERSION.  83 

it  was  very  beautiful."  Thus  many  a  sermon  is  overlaid 
and  buried  under  its  own  robes.  Conversion  is  a  simple 
doctrine.  Pity  that  those  we  seek  to  bless  should  be  more 
taken  up  with  our  pretty  words  than  with  the  truth  of  our 
adorable  master. — SPUKQEON. 


COURAGE. 

"  He  thanked  God  and  took  courage"— Acts  xxviii:  15. 
Dare  to  be  a  Daniel, 
Dare  to  stand  alone, 
Dare  to  have  a  purpose  true, 
Dare  to  make  it  known. 

THE   CHRISTIAN   A   SOLDIER. 

To  watch,  to  fight,  with  steady  front  to  meet  and  repel 
temptation— in  other  words  to  do  no  evil,  is,  however, 
though  an  important  part,  but  one,  and  not  the  most  im- 
portant part  of  Christian  work.     The  Church  of  the  Living 
God  bears  no  resemblance  to  those  communities  of  ants 
where  a  certain  number  of  these  curious  insects  form  asort 
..I'  -landing  army,  and  have  no  other  duties  but  to  defend 
and  battle  for  the  commonwealth;  the  building,  and  pro- 
vi>ioning,  and  other  duties  of  the  ant  hill  belonging  to  the 
others,  and  not  to  them,  nor  to  take  an  illustration  from 
tin-  arrangements  of  human  society,  does  Christ's  kingdom 
mble  this,  or  that  of  any  other  sovereign,  where  the 
military,  wearing  a  distinct  garb,  and  exempted  from  those 
productive  labors  whereby  others  support  themselves,  and 
add  to  the  wealth  of  the  country,  form  a  distinct  order  of 
the  community.     The  type  of  a  Christian  is  seen  not  in 
lands  where  citizens  and   boldiers,  working  and  fighting 
men  from  dim-rent  clasM--;  but  rather  in  those  troubled 
••us  of  the  East,   where  the  husbandman,  constantly 
expose.l  to  the  attack  of  murderers  and  robbers,  ploughs 
the  si.il  with  a  carbine  slung  at  his  back,  or  a  sword  slung 

84 


COURAGE.  85 

at  his  side.  The  true  Christian  must  be  a  soldier,  and  he 
must  be  a  true  soldier,  bold,  courageous  and  active  in  de- 
fensive and  aggressive  warfare. — GUTHRIE 


GRACE   FOR   COURAGE. 

The  father  does  not  give  to  his  son  at  school  enough 
money  to  last  him  several  years,  but  as  the  bills  for  tuition 
and  board  and  clothing  and  books  come  in,  pays  them,  so 
God  will  not  give  you  grace  all  at  once  for  the  future,  but 
will  meet  all  your  exigencies  as  they  come.  Then  courage, 
my  brother,  courage! — TALMAGE. 


COURAGE   ON   BEHALF   OF   PRINCIPLE. 

Do  not  be  afraid  to  spend  yourself.  Do  not  hesitate  to 
risk  yourself.  Do  not  shrink  from  treading  on  principle. 
It  will  carry  you,  as  a  bridge,  over  the  deepest  and  darkest 
chasm  that  exists.  Trust  truth,  and  purity,  and  integrity, 
and  benevolence.  Give  yourself  to  them.  Throw  your- 
self impetuously,  enthusiastically,  into  them.  And  do  not 
wait  to  tee  if  anybody  sees  you.  Do  not  care  what  any- 
body says.  Be  unconscious  so  far  as  men  are  concerned. 
Be  boldly  true  and  truly  bold. — BEECHER. 


MEMORY   AN   AID  TO   COURAGE. 

Sir  Francis  Drake  being  in  a  dangerous  storm  in  the 
Thames,  was  heard  to  say,  "  Must  I  who  have  escaped  the 
rage  of  the  ocean,  be  drowned  in  a  ditch?"  Will  you,  ex- 
perienced saints,  who  have  passed  through  a  world  of 
tribulation,  lie  down  and  die  of  despair,  or  give  up  your 
profession  because  you  are  at  the  present  moment  passing 
through  some  light  affliction?  Let  your  past  preservation 
inspire  you  with  courage,  and  constrain  you  to  brave  all 


86  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

storms    for   Jesus'    sake.      Courage  for  the  present  is 
igthened  by  the  memory  of  past  deliverances.— SPUR- 

GEON. 

GOD  USES   BOLD  MEN. 

See  Elijah  on  Mount  Carmel,  full  of  boldness.  How 
the  Lord  used  him!  How  the  Lord  stood  by  him!  How 
the  Lord  blessed  him!  But  when  he  got  his  eyes  off  the 
way,  and  Jezebel  sent  a  message  to  him  that  she  would 
have  his  life,  he  got  afraid.  He  was  not  afraid  of  Ahab 
and  the  whole  royalty,  not  afraid  of  all  the  nation.  He 
stood  on  Mount  Carmel  alone,  and  see  what  courage  he 
had!  But  what  came  over  him,  I  don't  know,  unless  it 
was  that  he  got  his  eyes  off  the  Lord.  That,  I  think,  is 
the  trouble  with  a  good  many  of  God's  people.  We  get 
frightened,  and  are  afraid  to  speak  to  men  about  their  souls. 
We  lack  moral  courage.  The  work  of  soul-saving  will  not 
begin  until  we  get  the  com  age  to  invite  men  to  Christ, 
personally.  We  read  that  when  the  Apostles  were  brought 
before  the  council,  they  perceived  their  boldness,  and  it 
made  an  impression  on  the  council.  The  Lord  could  use 
them  then  because  they  were  fearless  and  bold. — MOODY. 


RIGHT   AGAINST   MIGHT. 

Will  you  do  nothing  to  put  down  the  evil  side  of  that 
foolish  proverb,  " Nothing  succeeds  like  success?"  Beard 
success  in  its  own  den,  fight  the  most  popular  evils,  es- 
pouse the  poorest  and  the  weakest  causes,  if  'you  believe 
that  they  are  inspired  by  one  element  of  right.  It  takes  a 
>t  rong  man  to  stand  alone.  It  is  only  a  man  here  and 
there  that  can  raise  a  tune;  almost  everybody  tries  to  have 
a  mumble  after  it  is  raised.  But  stand  alone,  young 
friend;  stand  alone,  poor  man;  stand  with  the  right.  We 


COURAGE.  87 

are  in  the  minority,  but  we  are  in  the  minority  of  God.  I 
do  not  believe  in  majorities,  popularly  so  called.  I  believe 
men  should  be  weighed  as  well  as  numbered.  I  would 
rather  have  the  support  of  one  man  of  a  certain  kind,  than 
the  support  of  ten  thousand  of  a  kind  directly  opposite. 
— PARKER. 


CREATION. 


"  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth" — 
Gen.  i:  J. 

"  Loud  hallelujahs  to  the  Lord, 

From  distant  worlds,  where  creatures  dwell; 
Let  heaven  begin  the  solemn  word, 

And  sound  it  dreadful  down  to  hell. 
Wide  as  his  vast  dominion  lies, 

Make  the  Creator's  name  be  known; 
Loud  as  his  thunder  shout  his  praise, 

And  sound  it  lofty  as  his  throne." 

CREATION   IN   A  CIRCLE. 

God  created  the  universe  on  the  plan  of  a  circle.  There 
are  in  the  natural  world  straight  lines,  angles,  parallel- 
ograms, diagonals,  quadrangles;  but  these  evidently  are 
not  God's  favorites.  Giant's  Causeway  in  Ireland  shows 
what  God  thinks  of  mathematics.  There  are  over  thirty- 
five  thousand  columns  of  rocks— octagonal,  hexagonal, 
pentagonal.  These  rocks  seem  to  have  been  made  by 
rule  and  compass.  Every  artist  has  his  moulding  room, 
where  he  may  make  fifty  shapes;  but  he  chooses  one  shape 
as  preferable  to  all  the  others.  I  will  not  say  that  the 
Giant's  Causeway  was  the  world's  moulding  room,  but  I 
do  say,  out  of  a  great  many  figures,  God  seems  to  have 
selected  the  circle  as  the  best.  He  created  the  stars  in  a 
circle,  the  universe  in  a  circle,  and  the  throne  on  which 
He  sits  is  the  center  of  that  circle. — TALMAGE. 


CULTURE    THE  COMPLEMENT    OF   CREATION. 

Creation  begins  the  work.     Culture  continues  it.    There 

88 


CREATION.  89 

is  but  a  beginning  in  natural  fruits,  and  they  never,  when 
left  to  nature  alone,  reach  beyond  that  point.  When  a 
man  finds  a  crab  apple  in  the  woods,  he  would  not  will- 
ingly find  it  more  than  once;  yet,  brought  to  his  own 
orchard,  it  becomes  a  fine  fruit.  But  did  nature  make  the 
pippin?  Nature  had  been  trying  her  hand  for  years  and 
years,  and  had  never  been  able  to  get  beyond  the  crab 
apple.  Man  says  to  her:  "You  are  a  bungling  apprentice; 
/will  make  you  a  journeyman."  Iron  is  created,  but  a 
sword  is  made.  Nature  does  not  create  a  jack-knife,  a 
steam  engine,  a  knife  and  fork,  but  bare,  cold,  dead  iron. 
God  intends  that  we  shall  only  do  the  work  of  utilizing, 
He  of  creating,  for  that  we  can  not  do. — BEECHEK. 


GOD    IN   CREATION. 

Phidias,  the  Grecian  sculptor,  needed  not  to  have  the 
name  Phidias  in  so  many  letters  on  his  work,  for  the 
master's  hand  had  a  cunning  of  its  own  which  none  could 
counterfeit.  An  instructed  person  had  enly  to  look  at  the 
statue  and  say  at  once,  "Phidias  did  this,  for  no  other 
hand  could  have  chiseled  such  a  countenance;"  and  be- 
lievers have  only  to  look  either  at  creation,  providence,  or 
the  divine  word,  and  they  will  cry  instinctively,  "This  is 
the  finger  of  God."  There  is  God  engraven  upon  every 
work  of  creation. — SPURGEON. 


SKILL  IN   NATURE. 

The  British  museum  possesses  in  the  Portland  vase  one 
of  the  finest  remains  of  ancient  art;  and  it  may  be  remem- 
bered how,  some  years  ago — the  world  of  taste  was  shocked 
to  hear  that  this  precious  relic  had  been  shattered  by  a 
maniac's  hand.  Without  disparaging  classic  taste  or  this 
exquisite  example  of  it,  I  venture  to  say  there  is  not  a 


90  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

poor  worm  that  we  tread  upon,  nor  a  sere  leaf,  that,  like 
a  ruined  but  reckless  man,  dances  merrily  in  its  fallen  state 
to  the  autumn  winds,  but  has  superior  claims  upon  our 
study  and  admiration.  The  child  who  plucks  a  lily  or  rose 
to  pieces,  or  crushes  the  fragile  form  of  a  fluttering  insect, 
destroys  a  work  which  the  highest  art  could  not  invent, 
nor  man's  best-skilled  hand  construct.  And  there  was  not 
:i  leaf  quivered  on  the  trees  which  stood  under  the  domes 
of  the  crystal  palace,  but  eclipsed  the  brightest  glories  of 
loom  or  chisel;  it  had  no  rival  among  the  triumphs  of  in- 
vention, which  a  world  went  there  to  see.  In  his  humblest 
works,  God  infinitely  surpasses  the  highest  efforts  of 
human  skill. — GUTHEIE. 


THE  CROSS. 


"  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord 
fesus  Christ" — Gal.  ^1:14. 

In  the  cross  of  Christ  I  glory, 

Towering  o'er  the  wrecks  of  time; 
All  the  light  of  sacred  story 

Gathers  round  its  head  sublime. " 

— SIR  JOHN  BOOKING. 


CHRIST   WITH   US  MEANS    THE   CROSS    FOR  US. 

When  God  breaks  up  your  plans,  and  throws  you  to  the 
very  ground,  and  breaks  all  the  threads  in  the  loom  which 
you  were  weaving,  and  says  to  you,  "Begin  again,"  is 
there  any  Christ  for  you  at  that  point  of  your  overthrow  ? 
Can  you  go  forth  unto  your  Savior  marking  that  place  in 
His  life  where  He  was  overthrown,  identifying  it  in  some 
way  with  your  own  overthrow  ?  Can  you  stand  rejoicing 
with  Christ  at  that  very  point  of  humiliation  and  crucifix- 
ion ?  Christ  may  be  followed  in  two  ways — victorious,  and 
in  disgrace  and  ignominy;  and  we  are  called  to  follow, 
first,  not  Christ  as  He  is  set  forth  in  all  the  royalty  of 
philosophy  and  reason,  but  a  Christ  humiliated,  a  Christ 
despised;  a  Christ  hated,  a  Christ  crucified.  Before  we 
stand  with  Christ  upon  Olivet,  we  must  stand  with  Him 
upon  Calvary,  must  walk  with  Him  thither. — BEECHER. 


SPES  UNICA. 

On  a  huge  cross  by  the  side  of  an  Italian  highway  hung 
a  hideous  caricature  of  the  Beloved  of  oar  souls,  who  poured 
out  His  life  for  our  redemption.  Out  of  reverence  to  the 

91 


92  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

living  Savior  we  turned  aside,  disgusted  from  the  revolting 
ini:i^-.  but  not  until  we  had  espied  the  words,  "  Spes 
n  capitals  over  its  head.  Here  was  truth  emblaz- 
oned on  an  idol.  Yes,  indeed,  Jesus  our  once  crucified, 
hut  now  exalted  Lord,  is  the  sole  and  only  hope  of  man. 
The  cross  bears  ths  Spes  Unica  to  our  soul.— SPUEGEON. 

JESUS   BORE   THE   CROSS   FOR  US. 

You  ladies  wear  small  crosses  made  of  gold  and  wood 
and  stone  about  your  necks;  but  the  cross  that  the  Son  of 
God  carried  was  a  rude,  heavy  tree,  made  into  a  cross.     I 
can  imagine  Him  reeling  and  staggering  under  it.     Un- 
doubtedly He  had  lost  so  much  blood  that  He  was  too  faint 
to  carry  it,  and  before  they  got  to  the  place,  it  well  nigh 
crushed  Him  to  the  earth.     And  then  some  stranger  under- 
took to  bear  it  along  after  Him.  That  was  only  nine  o'clock 
in  the  morning.     They  arrived  at  Calvary  a  little  before 
nine.     Then  they  took  up  the  Son  of  God  and  they  laid  Him 
out  upon  that  cross.     I  can  imagine  them  binding  His 
wrists  to  the  arms  of  the  cross.     And  after  they  got  Him 
bound,  up  came  a  soldier  with  a  hammer  and  nails  and  put 
one  nail  into  the  palm  of  His  hand,  and  then  came  the  ham- 
mer without  mercy,  driving  it  down  through  the  bone  and 
tit  -h  and  into  the  wood:    and  then  into  the  other  hand. 
And  then  they  brought  a  long  nail  for  His  feet.     O,  you 
young  ladies,  who  say  you  see  no  beauty  in  Christ  that  you 
should  desire  to  be  like  Him,  come  with  me  and  take  a 
look  at  those  wounds,  and  remember  that  that  crown  of 
thorns  was  laid  upon  His  brow  by  a  mocking  world.     But 

while  they  were  crucifying  Him,  He  was  praying  for  them. 

Was  there  ever  such  love  as  that  ? — MOODY. 


OUR   SALVATION  WROUGHT    UPON   THE   CBOSS. 

Are  you  trusting  in  a  righteousness  of  your  own?  Leave 


THE  CROSS.  9i 

that  loom.  Are  the  gossamer  threads  of  your  own  vows 
and  promises  ever  snapping  in  your  hand,  and  breaking  at 
every  show  of  the  shuttle  ?  The  robe  of  righteousness,  a 
raiment  meet  for  chy  soul,  and  approved  of  by  God,  was 
never  woven  there.  It  was  wrought  upon  the  cross;  and, 
of  color  more  enduring  than  Tyrian  purple,  it  is  dyed  red 
in  the  blood  of  Calvary. — GUTHRIE. 


THE   THREE   CROSSES. 

The  cross!  Poets  have  sung  its  praise,  and  sculptors 
have  attempted  to  commemorate  it  in  marble,  and  martyrs 
have  clung  to  it  in  fire,  and  Christians  dying  quietly  in 
their  beds  have  leaned  their  heads  against  it.  May  all  our 
souls  embrace  it  with  an  ecstacy  of  affection.  Lay  hold  of 
that  cross,  O  dying  sinner.  Everything  else  will  fail  you. 
Without  a  strong  grip  of  that  you  perish.  Put  your  hand 
on  that  and  you  are  safe,  though  the  world  swing  from 
beneath  your  feet.  Oh!  that  1  might  engrave  on  3  our  souls 
ineffaceably  the  three  crosses,  and  that  if  in  your  waking 
moments  you  will  not  heed,  then  that  in  your  dream  to-night 
you  might  see  on  the  hill  back  of  Jerusalem  the  three  spe'c- 
tacles — the  right-hand  cross  showing  unbelief,  and  dying 
without  Christ — the  left-hand  showing  what  it  is  to  be  par- 
doned— while  the  central  cross  pours  upon  your  soul  the 
sunburst  of  Heaven  as  it  says:  "By  all  these  wounds  I 
plead  for  thy  heart.  I  have  loved  thee  with  an  everlasting 
love.  Rivers  cannot  quench  it.  The  floods  cannot  drown 
it  1 " — TALMAGE. 

THE   CURE  FOR  TROUBLE. 

What  is  the  cure  for  all  this  social  chaos,  domestic 
trouble,  secret  pain,  this  wrong  doing  as  between  kings  and 
subjects,  fathers  and  children,  map  and  man  ?  The  one  cure 
is  the  cross  of  Christ.  Have  I  not  preached  that  with  some 


94  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

consistency  ever  since  you  knew  me?  Have  I  ever  given 
a  second  pre.-eription  lor  this  malady  of  the  world  ?  If  I 
have,  oh  !  allow  me  now  to  tear  it  up,  publicly  to  tear  it 
up,  so  that  nobody  can  ever  patch  it  together  so  as  to  make 
one  word  of  it  through  all  time.  The  prescription  I  will 
give  is  given  to  me.  The  prescription  by  which  I  would 
abide  according  to  the  exhortation  of  Scripture,  the  pre- 
scription which  I  would  preach  to  all  mankind  is  this: 
•'The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  God  the  Son,  cleanseth  from 
all  sin." — PARKER. 


CROSS-BEARING. 


"Jf  any  man  win.  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take 

up  his  cross,  and  follow  me." — Matt,  xvi:  24. 

"  Only  a  little  while 

Of  walking  with  weary  feet, 
Patiently  over  the  thorny  way 

That  leads  to  the  golden  street." 

"  Suffer  if  God  shall  will, 

And  work  for  him  while  we  may, 
From  Calvary's  cross  to  Zion's  crown, 
Is  only  a  little  way." 


A   HEAVY   CROSS. 

"Jesus,  I  my  cross  have  taken,"  was  not  written  in  an 
easy  chair,  or  on  a  damask  curtain.  It  was  written  by  a 
young  woman,  who  for  Christ's  sake  had  been  driven  from 
her  fathers  home;  and  you  account  for  the  pathos  of  that 
hymn  when  I  tell  you  that  she  dipped  the  pen  in  the  blood 
of  her  own  broken  heart,  and  in  her  tears,  wrote — 

' '  Jesus,  I  my  cross  have  taken 

All  to  leave  and  follow  Thee: 
Naked,  poor,  despised,  forsaken, 

Thou  from  hence  my  all  shall  be." 


BATTLE   SCARS   FOR   CHRIST. 

Oh  Christian  man,  Oh  Christian  woman!  Have  you  any 
scars  to  show  in  this  conflict  ?  When  a  war  is  over  the 
heroes  have  scars  to  show.  One  hero  rolls  back  a  sleeve 
and  shows  a  gun-shot  fracture,  or  he  pulls  down  his  collar 
and  shows  where  he  was  wounded  in  the  neck.  Another 
man  says,  "I  have  never  had  the  use  of  my  limb  since  I 

95 


96  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

wounded  in  that  great  battle."    When  the  last  day 

will  we  have  any  wounds  to  show  for  Christ  ?  Will 

we  -how  marks  where  we  have  borne  the  cross  ? — TALMAGE. 


To  the  end  of  life  the  way  of  Christ  is  a  way  of  cross- 
bearing  and  of  self-denial.  To  the  end  of  life  men  stand 
where  these  two  great  influences,  one  from  heaven  and  the 
other  from  the  bottom  of  the  earth,  meet,  and  whirl  all 
things  round  about  in  struggles;  and  there  is  where  men 
strive  to  overcome  the  old  man  that  is  lowest — the  appe- 
tites; and  to  endow  themselves  with  the  new  man — Christ 
is.  An-  you  willing  to  stand  at  that  point  and  identify 
yourself  with  all  the  humiliation  and  self-sacrifice  which 
are  necessary  to  put  down  the  old  man  and  to  endow  your- 
self with  the  new  man  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ? — BEECHEE. 


CHRIST   OUR    EXAMPLE   IN   CROSS-BEARING. 

Christ  is  our  great  example  in  cross-bearing.  He  had 
not  win  re  to  lay  his  head  in  life,  nor  a  rag  to  cover  him 
in  death,  nor  anything  but  a  borrowed  grave  in  burial. 
What  inMim  r  of  persons  ought  we  to  be  in  all  unselfish- 
win  n  \\e  have  such  a  Lord!  He  hath  not  said  to  us 
in  matters  of  .-elf  denial,  "Take  up  thy  cross  and  go," 
but  "Come,  take  up  thy  cross  and  follow  me."  Well 
may  the  soldiers  endure  hardness  when  the  king  himself 
roughs  it  among  us;  and  suffers  more  than  the  meanest 
private  in  our  ranks.  My  soul,  I  charge  thee,  bear  thy 
9,  and  look  not  for  ease  where  Jesus  found  his  death. 

-     S|-i  EtOEON. 

SMALL  CROSSES. 

Snme  shrink  from  bearing  their  crosses  because  of  their 
insignificance,  as  well  as  on  account  of  their  heaviness,  in 


CROSS-BEARING.  97 

i 

other  cases.  I  remember  hearing  of  a  person  who  was 
always  trying  to  do  some  great  thing  for  the  Lord,  and 
because  he  could  not  do  a  great  thing,  he  never  did  any- 
thing. There  are  a  great  many  who  would  be  willing  to 
do  great  things  if  they  could  come  up  and  have  their 
names  heralded  through  the  press.  Your  cross  may  be  an 
humble  one.  Don't  slight  it. — MOODY. 


AFTER  THE   CROSS  THE   CROWN. 

Now  for  the  work,  hereafter  for  the  wages;  earth  for  the 
cross,  heaven  for  the  crown.  Go  thy  way,  assured  that 
there  is  not  a  prayer  you  utter,  nor  a  word  you  speak,  nor 
a  foot  you  walk,  nor  a  tear  you  shed,  nor  a  hand  you  hold 
out  to  the  perishing,  nor  a  warning  you  give  to  the  care- 
less, nor  a  wretched  child  you  pluck  from  the  streets,  nor 
a  visit  paid  to  the  widow  or  fatherless,  nor  a  loaf  of  bread 
you  lay  on  a  poor  man's  table,  that  there  is  no  cross  you 
bear  for  the  sake  of  God  and  men,  but  is  faithfully  regis- 
tered in  the  chronicles  of  the  kingdom,  and  shall  be  pub- 
licly read  that  day  when  Jesus,  calling  you  up  perhaps 
from  a  post  as  mean  as  Mordecai's,  shall  crown  your  brows 
before  an  assembled  world,  saying,  "  Thus  it  shall  be  done 
to  the  man  whom  the  king  delighteth  to  honor." — GUTHRIE. 


DEATH. 

"77i(  small  and  great  are  there;   and  the  servant  is  free  from 
his  master"— Job  Hi :  19. 

"Leaves  have  their  time  to  fall, 
And  flowers  to  wither  at  the  North-wind's  breath, 

And  stars  to  set, — but  all, 
Thou  hast  all  seasons  for  thine  own,  O  Death !  " 

—MBS.  HEMANS. 


A  CHILD'S  DEATH. 

There  was  a  child  born  in  your  house.  All  your  friends 
congratulated  you.  The  other  children  of  the  family  and  of 
the  neighborhood  stood  amazed  looking  at  the  new-comer, 
and  asked  a  great  many  questions,  genealogical  and  chro- 
nological. You  said — and  you  said  truthfully — that  a 
white  angel  flew  through  the  room  and  left  the  little  one 
there.  That  little  one  stood  with  its  two  feet  in  the  very 
center  of  your  sanctuary  of  affection,  and  with  its  two  hands 
it  took  hold  of  the  altar  of  your  soul.  But  one  day  there 
came  one  of  the  three  scourges  of  children — scarlet  fever, 
or  croup, or  diphtheria — and  all  that  bright  scene  vanished. 
The  great  Friend  of  children  stooped  down  and  leaned 
toward  that  cradle  and  took  the  little  one  in  His  arms,  and 
walked  away  with  it  into  the  bower  of  eternal  summer. 
Death  came  into  your  household,  but  are  you  not  more 
pure  and  tender  hearted  than  you  used  to  be,  do  you  not 
more  patiently  waiting  for  the  daybreak,  on  account  of  that 
heavenly  visitor  ?— TALMAGE. 


DEATH  AND  MIGRATION. 

As  birds  in  the  hour  of  transmigration  feel  the  impulse 


DEATH.  99 

of  southern  lands,  and  gladly  spread  their  wings  for  th3 
realm  of  light  and  bloom,  so  may  we,  in  the  death  hour  feel 
the  sweet  solicitations  of  the  life  beyond,  and  joyfully  soar 
from  the  chill  and  shadow  of  earth  to  fold  our  wings  and 
sing  in  the  summer  of  an  eternal  Heaven. — BEECHER. 

DEATH  AND  UNMASKING. 

To-day  the  world  is  like  a  masquerade.  High  carnival 
is  being  held,  and  men  wear  their  masques  and  dominoes, 
and  strut  about,  and  we  think  that  man  a  king,  and  this  a 
mighty  prince,  and  this  a  haughty  chief.  But  the  time  is 
over  for  the  masque;  daylight  dawns;  strip  off  your  gar- 
nishings;  every  one  of  you  put  on  your  ordinary  garments. 
Who  goes  out  to  the  unrobing  room  with  greatest  confi- 
dence? Why,  the  man  who  feels  that  his  next  dre;S  will 
be  a  far  more  glorious  vestment.  If  any  reader  of  this 
page  seems  to  be  what  he  is  not,  let  him  be  wise  enough  to 
think  of  the  spade,  the  shroud,  and  the  silent  dust.  Let 
every  one  among  us  now  put  his  soul  into  the  crucible, 
and  as  we  shall  test  ourselves  in  the  silence  of  the  dying 
hour,  so  let  us  judge  ourselves  now. — SPURGEON. 


DEATH  ROBBED  OF  HIS  TERROR. 

A  certain  gentleman  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  His  little  boy  was  sick.  When  he  went  home,  his 
wife  was  weeping,  and  she  said,  "Our  boy  is  dying;  he  has 
had  a  change  for  the  worse.  I  wish  you  would  go  in  and 
see  him."  The  father  went  into  the  room  and  placed  his 
hand  upon  the  brow  of  the  dying  boy,  and  the  cold,  damp 
sweat  was  gathering  there:  the  icy  hand  of  death  was  feel- 
ing for  the  chords  of  life.  "Do  you  know,  my  boy,  that 
you  are  dying  ? "  asked  the  father.  "Am  I  2  Is  this  death  2 
Do  you  realy  think  I  am  dying?''  "Yes,  my  son,  your  end 
on  earth  is  near."  "And  will  I  be  with  Jesus  to  night  2  " 


100  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

"Yes  you  will  be  with  the  Savior."  "Father,  don't  you 
weep,'  for  when  I  get  there,  I  will  go  straight  to  Jesus  and 
U-11  Him  that  you  have  been  trying  all  your  life  to  lead  ine 
to  Him."  So  death  was  robbed  of  half  his  terror,  by  those 
words  of  the  Christian  child.— MOODY. 

COMFORT  IN  DESOLATE  HOMES. 

Our  children  may  not  abide;  the  earth  sounds  hollow  to 
the  foot— it  is  so  full  of  graves.  Ah!  how  few  gardens 
are  there  where  death  has  not  left  his  footprints,  when  he 
came  to  steal  away  some  of  our  sweetest  flowers.  Few  are 
the  trees  standing  on  this  earth,  from  which  he  has  not 
lopped  off  some  goodly  boughs.  In  this  world,  have  I  not 
seen  one  and  another  stand  bleak  and  branchless;  and  oh 
how  blessed  for  the  father  who  has  laid  the  last  survivor  in 
the  dust,  and  returns  from  that  saddest  funeral  to  find 
God  waiting  for  him  in  his  desolate  home.— GUTHRIE. 

AFTER  DEATH, — WHAT  ? 

Like  a  pendulum  I  swing  from  prayer  to  blasphemy, 
and  back  again  to  prayer;  and  if  I  would  die  at  prayer  ] 
might  go  to  Heaven,  but  if  I  should  die  at  blasphemy  I 
might  go  to  hell,  and  blaspheme  there  through  the  ages, 
and  grow  worse,  and  still  worse,  until  God  Himself  cannot 
know  me  as  the  child  baptized  in  His  own  name,  and  held 
up  in  public  prayer  in  the  old  village  church  a  million 
years  before.     I  fight,  and  win,  and  die.     I  plant  the  green 
vineyard  and  gather  purple  grapes,  and  as  the  wine  foams  in 
the  full  flagon,  I  fall  down  and  cannot  taste  the  inviting 
cheer.     I  build  a  high  house  with  roof  that  wind  cannot  stir 
nor  storm  blow  through,  and  when  the  blazing  fire  roars 
from  the  gleaming  hearth,  and  Comfort,  rosy  faced,  beams 
upon  me  from  the  pictured  walls,  I'm  sent  for  and  thrust 
into  the  grave  and  prayed  over  as  a  failure  here, — perhaps 


DEATH.  101 

a  failure  there  ;  handed  over  to  the  resurrection,  to  the 
Great  Unknown,  to  Ghostland,  and  a  cold  stone  with  lies  on 
it  keeps  me  well  down  in  the  earth. 

Jesns  save  me!   Christ  redeem  me!  Lord  keep  me!  God 
help  me  ! — PARKER. 


DECISION. 


"As for  me"— Joshua  xxiv:  I  $. 

"Delay  not,  delay  not;  the  hour  is  at  hand, 
The  earth  shall  dissolve  and  the  heaven's  shall  fade ; 

The  dead,  small  and  great,  in  the  judgment  shall  stand 
What  helper,  then,  brother,  shall  lend  thee  his  aid?" 


BE   DECISIVE. 

How  many  there  are  who  roll  through  life  performing 
no  higher  functions  than  the  swine  at  the  trough!  They 
exercise  not  their  God-given  power  of  will  to  restrain,  to 
decide,  to  determine.  Round  and  fat  they  are;  sleek  and 
comely  they  are;  good  eaters  they  are;  good  drinkers  they 
are;  good  sleepers  they  are;  and  good  diers  they  are — for 
when  they  are  dead  they  are  out  of  the  way.  They  are 
born  with  a  cry;  then  they  eat  and  drink  and  sleep;  then 
they  die  with  a  wheeze — that  is  all.  And  how  much  are 
they  worth?  What  are  they  good  for?  They  are  fine  as 
the  world  goes.  Yet  my-  asparagus-bed  brings  forth  as 
good  men  as  they  are.  I  would  as  lief  have  fat  vegetables 
as  these  men  of  no  firmness,  of  no  decision  of  character, 
these  men  of  shambles. — BEECHER. 


EXAMPLE   OF   DECISION. 

After  the  defeat  of  the  Romans  at  the  battle  of  Allia, 
Rome  was  sacked,  and  it  seemed  as  if,  at  any  moment,  the 
Gauls  might  take  the  capitol.  Among  the  garrison  was  a 
young  man  of  the  Fabian  family,  and  on  a  certain  day, 
the  anniversary  of  a  sacrifice  returned,  when  his  family 

102 


DECISION.  103 

had  always  offered  sacrifice  upon  the  Quirinal  Hill.  This 
hill  was  in  the  possession  of  the  Gauls;  but  when  the 
morning  dawned,  the  young  man  took  the  sacred  utensils 
of  his  god,  went  down  from  the  capitol,  passed  through 
the  Gallic  sentries,  through  the  main  body,  up  the  hill, 
offered  sacrifice,  and  came  back  unharmed.  It  was  always 
told  as  a  wonder  among  Roman  legends.  This  is  just 
how  the  Christian  should  act  when  decision  for  Christ  is 
called  for.  Though  he  be  a  solitary  man  in  the  midst  of 
a  thousand  opponents,  let  him,  at  the  precise  moment 
when  duty  calls,  fearless  of  danger,  go  straight  to  the  ap- 
pointed spot,  do  his  duty,  and  remember  that  consequences 
belong  to  Gcd,  and  not  to  us.  I  pray  God  that  after  this 
style  we  may  display  decision  for  Christ. — SPURGEON. 

IMMEDIATE   DECISION. 

I  urge  upon  you  the  need  of  present  decision  for  the 
right.  Don't  delay  the  answer  to  this  great  question, 
"What  shall  I  do  with  Jesus?"  Accept  him  now.  When 
you  are  sick  is  no  time  to  receive  Jesus.  When  death 
comes,  he  often  steals  in  unawares.  Some  men  don't 
know  that  death  is  coming  until  they  are  hurried  away 
into  the  other  world  without  any  preparation.  How  much 
do  you  suppose  some  lost  one  would  give  for  the  oppor- 
tunity of  another  decision?  How  much  do  you  think 
Agrippa  would  give  to  be  in  Paul's  place  now?  How 
much  do  you  think  those  men  who  heard  Christ  preach, 
would  give  if  they  had  the  opportunity  you  have  here  this 
afternoon?  I  believe  that  Caiaphas  would  be  very  glad  to 
exchange  places  with  John;  but  it  is  too  late  now.  All 
the  opportunities  are  gone. — MOODY. 

IMPORTANCE    OF    DECISION. 

On  decision  of  character,  man's  best  and  eternal  interest 


104  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AXD  BEAUTY. 

depends.  Our  position  nearly  corresponds  to  that  of 
Israel  on  Carmel,  when  Elijah,  standing  by  the  mountain 
altar,  addressed  the  people,  saying,"  "How  long  hah  ye 
between  two  opinions:  if  the  Lord  be  God,  follow  Him: 
but  if  Baal,  then  follow  him!"  Christ  with  a  cross,  but 
heaven  behind  Him;  and  Satan  with  the  world  glittering 
in  his  hand,  but  hell  flaming  at  his  back,  stand  before  us. 
rival  candidates.  Each  solicits  our  hands  and  our  heart. 
We  must  decide  between  them;  the  one  or  the  other  we 
must  serve.  In  the  vain  hope  of  making  much  of  both 
worlds,  unwilling  to  perish,  but  yet  unwilling  to  part  from 
sin,  many  postpone  their  decision,  and  attempt  to  com- 
promise the  matter  by  offering  these  rivals  a  divided 
allegiance.  Futile  and  vain  attempt!— GUTHRIE. 


AN  EARNEST  EXHORTATION. 

I  beg  of  you,  make  up  your  decision  this  morning  to 
start  for  the  kingdom.     uYes,"  you  say,  '•!  will  start,  but 
not  now."    William  III.  made  proclamation,  when  there 
was  a  revolution  in  the  north  of  Scotland,  that  all  who 
came  and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  by  the  31st  of  Decem- 
ber should  be  pardoned.     Maclan,  a  chieftain  of  a  pro- 
minent clan,  resolved  to  return  with  the  rest  of  the  rebels, 
but  had  some  pride  in  being  the  very  last  one  who  should 
take  the  oath.     He  postponed   starting   for  this  purpose 
until  two  days  before  the  expiration  of  the  term.     A  snow- 
storm impeded  his  way,  and  before  he  got  up  to  take  the 
oath  and  receive  a  pardon  from  the  throne  the  time  was 
up  and  past.     While  the  others  were  set  free,  Maclan  was 
miserably  put  to  death.     He  sta'ted  too  late  and  arrived 
too  late.     In  postponing  your  decision,  in  like  manner, 
-onie  of  you  are  \\\  prospect  of  lo>ing  forever  the  amne.-ty 
of  the  Gospel.  -TAI.MAGE. 


DIVINITY  OF  CHRIST. 


"  And  they  shall  call  his  name  Emmanuel,  which,  being  inter- 
preted is,  God  with  us." — Matt,  i:  23. 

Jesus  is  God !  the  solid  earth, 

The  ocean  broad  and  bright, 

The  countless  stars  like  golden  dust, 

That  strew  the  skies  at  night, 

The  wheeling  storm,  the  dreadful  fire, 

The  pleasant,  wholesome  air, 

The  summer's  sun,  the  winter's  frost, 

His  own  creations  were. 

— F.  W.  FABER. 


CHRIST    ALL   AND   IN   ALL. 

As,  with  the  genius  that  aspires  to  immortality,  and 
anticipates  the  admiration  of  future  ages,  the  painter  leaves 
his  name  on  a  corner  of  the  canvas,  so  Inspiration,  dipping 
her  pen  in  indelible  truth,  has  inscribed  the  name  of  Jesus 
upon  all  we  see — on  sun  and  stars,  flower  and  tree,  rock 
and  mountain,  the  unstable  waters  and  the  firm  land;  and 
also  on  what  we  do  not  see,  nor  shall  till  death  has  removed 
the  veil,  angels  and  spirits,  the  city  and  heavens  of  the 
eternal  world.  This  is  no  matter  of  fancy.  It  is  a  fact. 
It  is  a  blessed  fact.  No  voice  ever  sounded  more  distinctly 
to  my  ear,  than  that  of  revealed  truth,  proclaiming  Jesus, 
Lord  of  all. — GUTHRIE. 


HE   WAS   DIVINE. 

Christ's  work  was  that  of  a  God.  I  hear  it  in  his  voice; 
I  see  it  in  the  flash  of  his  eye;  I  behold  it  in  the  snapping 
of  death's  shackles;  I  see  it  in  the  face  of  the  rising  slum- 

105 


106  GEMS  OF  TRUiHAND  BEATUY. 

berers;  I  hear  it  in  the  outcry  of  all  those  who  were  specta- 
tors of  the  scenes.  He  cleft  the  sea.  He  upheaved  the 
metalline  walls  along  which  the  Israelite*  marched.  He 
planted  the  mountains.  He  raised  up  governments,  and 
i-a-t  down  thrones.  He  marches  across  nations,  and  across 
worlds,  and  across  the  universe,  eternal,  omnipotent,  un- 
hindered, and  unabashed.  That  hand  that  was  nailed  to 
the  cross  holds  the  stars  in  a  leash  of  love.  That  head  that 
dropped  on  the  bosom  in  fainting  and  death  shall  make  the 
world  quake  at  its  nod.  That  voice  that  groaned  in  the 
last  pang  shall  swear  before  the  trembling  world  that  time 
shall  be  no  longer.  He  was  a  God — a  God! — TALMAGE. 


HIS   DIVINITY   MANIFEST   IN   HIS   LOVE. 

The  nature  of  Divinity  as  disclosed  by  Jesus  Christ,  is 
uplifting  love  in  a  God  who  does  not  sit  like  some  old 
.Jupiter  seeking  his  own  happiness,  and  indulging  in  self- 
worship;  in  a  God  that  does  not  bargain  or  traffic;  in  :i 
God  of  disinterested  goodness,  who  is  constantly  pouring 
out  his  life  in  suffering,  in  burden-bearing,  for  the  sake 
of  saving  men,  and  raising  them  from  degradation  and 
misery  to  a  life  of  happiness  and  exaltation;  in  One  who 
walks  in  sublime  purity  among  men,  and  comes  to  his 
ji.-ission  knowing  what  is  before  him,  and  drinks  the  cup 
to  the  very  dregs,  and  will  not  turn  back;  in  One,  who 
tor  love's  sake  dies  heroically,  ascends  to  heaven,  and 
comes  back  and  bears  witness  to  mankind  that  they  are 
ascending  to  His  Father  and  their  Father,  and  says,  "Now 
go  and  preach  to  all  that  the  love  of  God  was  made  plain 
to  men  by  the  sufferings  ot  his  only  begotten  son,  that 
•  •very  man  who  hears  it  may  know  that  though  he  be 
weak,  imperfect  and  sinful,  he  has  a  Friend  in  heaven."— 
BEECHER. 


DIVINITY  OF  CHRIST.  107 

THE    EXALTED   ONE. 

Look  at  him,  can  your  imagination  picture  him?  Be- 
hold his  transcendent  glory!  The  majesty  of  kings  is 
swallowed  up;  the  pomp  of  empires  dissolves  like  the 
white  mist  of  the  morning  before  the  sun;  the  brightness 
of  assembled  armies  is  eclipsed.  He,  in  himself  is  brighter 
than  the  sun,  fairer  than  the  moon,  more  terrible  than  an 
army  with  banners.  See  him!  See  him!  O!  hide  your 
heads,  ye  monarchs;  put  away  your  gaudy  pageantry,  ye 
lords  of  this  poor  narrow  earth!  His  kingdom  knows  no 
bounds;  without  a  limit  his  vast  empire  stretches  out 
itself.  Above  him  all  is  his;  beneath  him  many  a  step  are 
angels,  and  they  are  his;  and  they  cast  their  crowns  before 
his  feet.  With  them  stand  his  elect  and  ransomed,  and 
their  crowns  too  are  his.  And  here  upon  this  lower  earth 
stand  his  saints,  and  they  are  his,  and  they  adore  him; 
and  under  the  earth,  among  the  infernals,  where  devils 
growl  their  malice,  even  there  is  trembling  and  adoration; 
and  where  lost  spirits,  with  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth, 
forever  lament  their  being,  even  there  is  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  his  Godhead,  even  though  the  confession  helps 
to  make  the  fire  of  their  torment.  In  heaven,  in  earth, 
in  hell,  all  knees  bend  before  him,  and  every  tongue  con- 
fesses that  he  is  God.  If  not  now,  yet, in  the  time  that 
is  to  come,  this  shall  be  carried  out,  that  every  creature  of 
God's  making  shall  acknowledge  his  Son  to  be  "God  over 
all,  blessed  forever.  Amen." — SPURGEON. 


CHRIST   ON    TRIAL. 

When  Jesus  was  on  trial,  they  did  not  go  and  summon 
his  friends — those  who  knew  him  best.  They  did  not  go 
and  bring  up  Zaccheus  of  Jericho,  they  did  not  bring  up 
that  poor  man  that  had  the  legion  of  devils  cast  out  of 
him;  they  did  not  bring  the  blind  man  of  Jericho — they 


108  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

brought  his  enemies.  Let  Caiaphas  tell  his  own  story-- 
>upj  ><>-»•  he  stood  in  my  place.  Caiaphas,  just  tell  us  what 
\\-jis  the  evidence  you  found  against  Jesus.  "I  said  to 
him  I  adjure  thee  by  the  living  God,  art  thou  the  Son  of 
(  And  he  said"'  I  am.'  When  I  heard  it  I  tore  my 
mantle  and  .said  he  was  guilty  of  blasphemy."  That  is  what 
we  glory  in,  his  being  the  Son  of  God.  Stephen  said, 
\\hen  the  curtains  were  lifted,  and  he  caught  a  glimpse  of 
glory,  I  see  Jesus  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God." 
The  testimony  is  perfectly  overwhelming  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  the  Son  of  God  as  well  as  the  Son  of  David.  Even 
the  devils  called  him  "that  son  of  the  Most  High  God."— 

M<X)DY. 


DUTY. 

We  have  done  that  which  was  our  duty  to  do." — Luke  xvii:  10. 

"  Better  than  ringing  plaudits  of  a  throng, 
Than  voice  of  multitudes  in  shouts  of  praise, 
Than  smiles  of  beauty  and  of  rarest  grace, 
Are  silent  whispers  of  a  conscience  free 
From  sense  of  duty  left  undone." 

-  CHARLES  MANLY. 


DUTY   VERSUS  LOVE. 

I  am  tired  of  the  word  duty;  tired  of  he&ring  duty, 
duty,  duty.  Men  go  to  church  because  it  is  their  duty. 
You  can  never  reach  a  man's  heart  if  you  talk  to  him  be- 
cause it  is  your  duty.  Suppose  I  told  my  wife  I  love  her 
because  it  is  my  duty — what  would  she  say?  Once  every 
year  I  go  up  to  Connecticut  to  visit  my  aged  mother. 
Suppose  when  I  go  next  time,  I  tell  her  I  know  she  is  old 
and  living  on  borrowed  time;  that  I  knew  she  had  done  a 
great  deal  for  me,  and  that  I  came  to  see  her  every  year 
because  it  is  my  duty.  Don't  you  think  she  would  say, 
"Well,  then,  my  son,  you  needn't  take  the  trouble  to  come 
again  ?"  Oh,  let  us  strike  for  a  higher  plane  than  duty. 
— MOODY. 

EXAMPLE  OF  LOVE  AS  COMPARED  WITH  DUTY. 
During  a  heavy  storm  off  the  Coast  of  Spain,  a  dis- 
masted merchantman  was  observed  by  a  British  frigate 
drifting  before  the  gale.  Every  eye  and  glass  were  on 
her.  With  all  his  faults,  no  man  is  more  alive  to  humanity 
than  the  rough  and  hardy  mariner;  and  so  the  order  sounds 

109 


110 


to  put  the  ship  about,  and  presently  a  boat  is  sent  out  to 
,K,;r  doun  upon  the  wreck.     Through  the  swell  of  a  roar- 
in-  sea.  tlu-y  reach  it;  they  shout;  and  now  a  strange  ob- 
j.-rt  rolls  out  of  a  canvas  screen  against  the  lee  shroud  of 
a  broken  mast.     Hauled  into  the  boat,  it  proves  to  be  the 
trunk  of  a  man,  bent  head  and  knees  together,  so  dried 
and  shriveled  as  to  be  hardly  felt  within  the  ample  clothes, 
and  so  light  that  a  mere  boy  lifted  it  on  board.     It  is  laid 
on  the  (kvk;  in  horror  and  pity  the  crew  gather  round  it; 
it  ^hows  signs  of  life;  they  draw  nearer,   it  moves,  and 
then  mutters— mutters  in  a  deep,  sepul chral  voice—  "There 
i*  another  man,"     Saved  himself,  the  first  use  the  saved 
one  made  of  speech  was  to  save  another.     Oh!  learn  that 
precious  lesson.     Be  daily  practicing  it.     So  long  as  in  our 
homes,  among  our  friends,  in  this  wreck  of  a  world  which 
is  drifting  down  to  ruin,   there  lives  an  unconverted  one, 
there  is  "  another  man  "  let  us  for  God's  sake,  and  for 
duty's,  go  to  him  and  plead  for  Christ;  go  to  Christ  and 
plead  for  that  man:  the  cry,  "Lord  save  me,  I  perish," 
ehanired  into  one  as  welcome  to  a  Savior's  ear,  "Lord  save 
them,  they  perish. — GUTHRIE. 


COMMONPLACE   DUTY. 

There  is  no  better  place  from  which  to  see  heaven  than 

a-penter's  bench,   or  a  mason's  wall,  or  a  merchant's 

counter,  if  the  heart  be  right.     Elisha  was  plowing  in  the 

field  when  the  prophetic  mantle  fell  upon  him.     Matthew 

\\as  engaged  in  his  custom-house  duties  when  he  was  com- 

inandrd  to  "follow."    James  and  John  were  busily  en- 

<1  in  mending  their  nets  when  called  to  become  fishers 

of  men.     Had  they  been  snoring  in  the  sun,  Christ  would 

not   have  brought  their  indolence  into  the  apostleship. 

Gideon  \v:is  at  work  with  a  flail  on  a  threshing  floor  when 


DUTY.  Ill 

he  saw  the  angel.  It  was  when  Saul  was  with  fatigue 
hunting  his  father's  asses  that  he  got  the  crown  of  Israel. 
There  is  no  post  like  the  post  of  duty. — TALMAGE 


DUTY   THE   PENDULUM   OF   A   CLOCK. 

If  you  wind  up  the  weights  of  a  clock,  and  point  the 
hands  to  the  proper  figures,  and  go  away,  you  will  find 
them  in  the  same  place  when  you  go  away  an  hour  later. 
Set  it  again,  and  an  hour  later  it  will  be  as  you  left  it. 
What  does  it  need  ?  It  needs  to  have  the  pendulum  swing 
and  then  it  will  keep  time.  Now,  I  am  continually  setting 
Christians;  and  when  I  look  again,  I  find  them  just  as  I 
left  them.  What  all  such  need  is  to  swing  the  pendulum 
of  duty.  Your  hearts  must  be  always  ticking,  if  you 
would  keep  time  with  the  Sun  of  Righteousness. — BEECHER. 


THE   CHRISTIAN  S   DUTY. 

Oh,  Christians,  never  be  satisfied  with  being  merely 
saved.  Up  with  you!  Away  off!  Go  onward,  up  the 
path  of  loving  duty  to  the  high  mountains,  to  the  clearer 
light,  to  the  brighter  joy.  If  saved  and  brought  like  the 
shipwrecked  mariner  to  shore,  is  that  enough  ?  Yes,  for 
the  moment  it  is  enough  to  warrant  the  purest  satisfaction 
and  the  warmest  congratulations.  Must  the  mariner  not 
seek  a  livelihood  as  long  as  he  lives  ?  Must  he  not  put 
forth  his  energies  ?  Just  so  let  it  be  with  you.  Saved 
from  the  deep  which  threatened  to  swallow  you  up,  rejoice 
that  you  are  preserved  from  death,  but  resolve  that  the  life 
vouchsafed  to  you  shall  be  active,  earnest,  fruitful,  vigor 
ous  and  dutiful.  Be  active  as  your  merchants  are. — SPUR- 
GEON. 


EARNESTNESS. 


"Therefore  we  ought  to  give  the  more  earnest  heed  to  the  thing's 
which  we  hare  heard."1 — Heb.  it:  I. 


"The  busy  world  (shoves  angrily  aside 

The  man  who  stands  with  arms  akimbo  set, 

Until  occasion  tells  him  what  to  do; 

And  he  who  waits  to  have  his  task  marked  out, 

Shall  die  and  leave  his  errand  unfulfilled. 

Our  time  is  ono  which  calls  for  earnest  deeds." 

— JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL. 


IMPORTANCE  OF  EARNESTNESS. 

Not  simply  to  the  wind,  however  auspicious,  does  the 
nan  owe  his  progress.  Without  it,  indeed,  his  ship 
\v(iiild  but  rise  and  fall  in  the  swell  of  the  deep;  but  with- 
out the  skill  to  catch  and  use  the  breeze,  and  compel  it, 
even  when  adverse,  by  dexterous  trimming  of  the  yards, 
and  .-et ting  of  the  sails,  and  handling  of  the  helm,  to  force 
him  on  mill  over  the  waves,  what  service  were  the  wind  to 
him.  So  was  it  in  Joseph's  and  so  is  it  in  all  cases  of  suc- 

God  gives  the  opportunities;  but  success  turns  on 
the  use  we  make  of  them;  on  the  promptitude  with  which 

ze  the  <MnMiings  of  providence;  on  the  earnestness 
of  character  we  bring  into  the  field;  on  the  resolution  and 
energy  we  throw  into  our  business.  — GUTHRIE. 


UK  WARDED  ACCORDING    TO   EARNESTNES 

Our  work  does  not  amount  to  much.     We  only  teach  a 
or  di>tril>ute  a  bundle  of  tracts,  or  preach  a  sermon, 
112 


EARNESTNESS.  113 

and  we  say}  "Oh,  if  I  had  done  it  in  some  other  way!" 
Christ  will  make  no  record  of  our  bungling  way  if  we  only 
did  the  best  we  could.  He  will  make  a  record  of  our  in- 
tention and  the  earnestness  of  our  attempt.  We  can  not 
get  the  attention  of  our  class,  or  we  break  down  in  oui 
exhortation,  or  our  sermon  falls  dead,  and  we  go  home 
disgusted  and  sorry;  we  try  to  speak,  and  feel  Christ  is 
afar  off  Why  he  is  nearer  than  if  we  had  succeeded,  if 
we  have  been  in  earnest,  for  he  knows  we  need  sympathy, 
and  he  is  touched  with  our  infirmity. — TALMAGE. 


EARNESTNESS   IN   PREACHING. 

According  to  my  principles,  if  a  man  is  a  messenger  of 
God,  and  knows  that  men  are  in  danger,  and  believes  that 
he  is  sent  to  rescue  them,  he  must  be  lost  in  the  enthusiasm 
of  that  work.  Men  often  think  that  earnestness — excite- 
ment is  dangerous.  Yes;  everything  is  dangerous  in  this 
world.  From  the  time  that  a  man  is  born  into  the  world, 
until  he  leaves  it,  it  is  possible  that  danger  maybe  coupled 
with  everything  he  does.  There  is  a  danger  that  your 
feeling  may  be  too  boisterous,  or  of  too  coarse  a  nature, 
but  there  is  no  danger  from  excitement  that  is  half  so 
fearful  as  the  danger  of  not  feeling  and  not  caring.  A 
preacher  who  is  earnest  in  everything  he  does,  in  all  that 
he  believes,  and  in  all  his  movements,  will  generally  carry 
the  people  with  him. — BEECHER. 


THE   NEED   OF  EARNESTNESS. 

We  lack  men  of  apostolic  zeal.  Converted  in  a  most 
singular  way,  by  a  direct  interposition  from  heaven,  Paul 
from  that  time  forward  became  an  earnest  man.  lie  had 
always  been  earnest,  in  his  sins,  and  in  his  persecutions; 
but  after  he  heard  that  voice  from  heaven,  "Saul,  Saul, 


1 14  GEMS  OF  TR  UTH  AND  BE  A  UTY. 

\\liypersecutestthou  me?"  and  had  received  the  mighty 
office  of  an  apostle,  and  had  been  sent  forth  a  chosen  vessel 
unto  the  gentiles,  you  can  scarcely  conceive  the  deep,  the 
awful  earnestness  he  manifested.  Whether  he  did  eat,  or 
drink,  or  whatsoever  he  did,  he  did  all  for  the  glory  of  his 
God.  His  zeal  was  so  earnest  that  he  could  not  restrain 
himself  within  a  little  sphere;  but  he  preached  the  word 
everyhwere.  Where  are  the  men  like  that  man  ?  He  had 
a  heart  on  fire. — SPUEGEON. 


EXAMPLE   OF  EARNESTNESS. 

When  I  Avas  going  to  Europe  in  1867,  my  Friend,  Mr. 
Stuart,  of  Philadelphia,  said,  "Be  sure  to  beat  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  at  Edinburg  in  June.  I  was  there  last 
year,"  he  said,  u  and  it  did  me  a  world  of  good."  He  said 
that  a  returned  missionary  was  invited  to  speak  to  the 
General  Assembly  on  the  wants  of  India.  This  old  mis- 
sionary, after  a  brief  address,  told  the  pastors  who  were 
present  to  go  home  and  stir  up  the  churches  to  send  young 
men  to  India  to  preach  the  Gospel.  He  spoke  with  such 
earnestness  that  after  a  while  he  fainted,  and  they  carried 
him  from  the  hall.  When  he  recovered,  he  asked  where 
he  was,  and  they  told  him  the  circumstances  under  which 
he  hud  been  brought  there.  "Yes,"  he  said,  "I  was  mak- 
ing a  plea  for  India,  and  I  didn't  quite  finish  my  speech, 
did  I? "  After  being  told  that  he  did  not,  he  said,  •<  Well, 
take  me  back  and  let  me  finish  it."  But  they  said,  "No, 
you  will  die  in  the  attempt."  "Well,"  said  he,  "I  will 
die  if  I  don't,"  and  the  old  man  asked  again  that  they 
would  allow  him  to  finish  his  plea.  When  he  w^as  taken 
back  the  whole  congregation  stood  as  one  man,  and  as 
they  brought  him  on  the  platform,  with  a  trembling  voice 
he  said,  "Fathers  and  mothers  of  Scotland,  is  it  true  that 


EARNESTNESS.  1 1 5 

you  will  not  let  your  sons  go  to  India  ?  I  spent  twenty- 
five  years  of  my  life  there.  I  have  come  back  with  sick- 
ness, and  shattered  health.  If  it  is  true  that  we  have  no 
strong  grandsons  to  go  to  India,  I  will  pack  up  what  I 
have  and  be  off  to  morrow,  and  I  will  let  those  heathen 
know  that  if  I  can  not  live  for  them,  I  can  die  for  them." 
The  world  said  that  the  old  man  was  enthusiastic.  He  was 
in  earnest,  and  that's  what  we  want. — MOODY. 


EDUCATION. 


"  Wisdom  is  the  principal  thing :  therefore  get  wisdom :  and 
with  all  thy  getting  get  understanding" — Prov:  iv.  7. 
"  Knowledge  and  wisdom,  far  from  being  one, 
Have  oft-times  no  connection,  knowledge  dwells 
In  heads  replete  with  thoughts  of  other  men; 
Wisdom  in  minds  attentive  to  their  own. 
Knowledge  is  proud  that  he  has  learned  so  much, 
Wisdom  humble  that  he  knows  no  more." 

— WM.  COWPEB. 


EDUCATION   ALONE   NOT  ENOUGH. 

I  heard  two  persons  on  the  Wengern  Alp  talking  by  the 
hour  together  of  the  names  of  ferns;  not  a  word  about 
their  characteristics,  uses,  or  habits,  but  a  medley  of  crack- 
jaw  titles  and  nothing  more.  They  evidently  thought  that 
they  were  ventilating  their  botany,  and  kept  each  other  in 
countenance  by  alternate  volleys  of  nonsense.  Education 
alone  is  :i  branchless  tree,  and  little  worth.  Knowledge 
lies  not  in  mere  words. — SPURGEON. 


BIBLE   A  MEANS  OF   EDUCATION. 

Gods  word  is  a  means  of  education  for  heaven.  By  His 
grace  and  your  own  co-operation,  your  soul  may  be  gradu- 
ally developed  into  a  more  perfect  resemblance  to  Him. 
Finally  your  Heavenly  Father  will  call  you  home,  where 
you  will  .see  the  angels  and  saints  clothed  in  the  beauty  of 
Christ  Himself,  standing  around  His  throne,  and  hear  the 
word  that  will  admit  you  into  their  society:  "  Well  done." 
— MOODY. 

116 


EDUCATION.  117 

EDUCATION  IN   CRIME. 

•* 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  education  in  crime.  As  there 
are  medical  schools  for  doctors,  and  commercial  academies 
for  merchants,  so  thieving  is  systematically  taught  in  some 
of  our  large  towns.  One  boy  for  instance  gives  this  ac- 
count of  himself:  "My  father  was  a  soldier  and  died 
when  I  was  a  little  fellow,  leaving  mother  very  poor.  She 
begged  in  the  street  for  a  living.  She  died  about  nine  years 
ago.  There  was  nobody  to  look  after  me.  I  soon  fell 
among  thieves,  and  was  taken  to  Wentworth  Street,  in 
Whitechapel,  to  a  house  where  I  was  boarded  and  lodged 
for  six  months,  where  I  was  taught  to  pick  pockets.  There 
were  twenty  more  boys  besides  myself  kept  by  a  man  and 
woman  who  got  the  plunder.  Daily  the  woman  dressed 
herself,  put  a  bell  in  her  pocket,  also  a  purse.  Any  boy 
who  could  take  the  purse  from  her  pocket  without  caus- 
ing the  bell  to  tinkle,  got  the  money  it  contained.  We 
stayed  till  we  were  well  fitted  to  pick  pockets."  The  ex- 
tent to  which  this  education  is  carried  is  almost  incredible. 
What  an  argument  for  Christian  mission  schools! — 
GUTHRIE. 


EDUCATION  INCREASES  RESPONSIBILITY. 

The  educated  rationalist  may  laugh  at  you.  But  to- 
morrow he  will  be  trodden  under  foot,  and  will  go  down 
to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt.  "Stop, "you  say, 
"suppose  he  graduated  at  Harvard?  or  at  Princeton?  or 
suppose  he  is  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  German  Universi- 
ties? I  can  not  help  that.  God  inafces  no  special  regulation 
for  the  graduates  of  Harvard  or  Princeton.  Rejecting  the 
Bible,  they  will  go  down  to  be  companions  of  the  most 
abandoned  wretches  in  the  universe,  and  more  miserable 
than  they,  because  of  their  superior  education.  One  rule 
for  all — for  great  brain  and  little  brain;  for  high-fore- 


1 1 8  GEMS  OF  TR  UTH  A  ND  BE  A  UTY. 

headed  Greek  professor,  and  for  flat-skulled  Esquimaux: 
"He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved;  and  he 
that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." — TALMAGE. 


EDUCATION  A  FRUIT  OF  PAST   INVESTIGATION. 

The  wisdom  of  to-day  is  the  fruit  of  the  education  of  all 
past  centuries.  We  are  heirs  to  the  accomplishments  of 
forgotten  ages.  The  knowledge  we  possess  is  as  a  tree 
which  draws  its  life  from  the  debris  of  forests  that  have 
crumbled  into  dust. — BEECHER. 


EDUCATION  FOSTERS  MANHOOD. 

I  plead  for  education,  not  because  it  is  the  highway  to 
prosperity  in  law,  or  in  medicine,  or  in  the  pulpit,  or  in 
political  life,  or  in  science,  but  because  it  means  manhood. 
I  plead  for  educaf  ion  as  the  indeepensable  condition  of  a 
continuing,  complete,  and  perpetuated  happiness.— IBID. 


CHRISTIANITY  AN   EDUCATION. 

Christianity  redeems  us;  not  from  sin  only,  but  from  all 
narrowness,  meanness,  and  littleness  of  conception;  it  puts 
great  thought  into  our  hearts  and  bold  words  into  our 
mouths,  and  leads  us  out  from  our  village  prisons  to  behold 
:ill  nations  of  mankind.  On  this  ground  alone,  Christi- 
anity is  the  best  educator  in  the  world.  It  will  not  allow 
the  soul  to  be  mean.  It  forces  the  heart  to  be  noble  and 
hopeful.  It  says,  "Go'and  teach  all  nations;"  "Go  ye 
into  all  the  world;"  "Look  not  every  man  on  his  own 
things,  but  every  man  also  on  the  things  of  others;"  "  Give 
and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you."  It  is  something  to  have 

voice  so  Divine  ever  stirring  the  will  and  mingling  coun- 
sels. It  is  like  a  sea-breeze  blowing  over  a  sickly  land; 


EDUCATION.  119 

like  sunlight  piercing  the  fogs  of  a  long  dark  night.  If 
we  have  narrow  sympathies,  mean  ideas,  paltry  concep- 
tions, we  are  not  scholars  in  the  school  of  Christ.  We  are 
citizens  of  the  world;  let  us  bring  no  reproach  upon  Christ 
by  our  exclusiveness. — PARKER. 


ETERNITY. 


"  The  high  and  lofty  One  that  inhabiteth  eternity,  whose  name  is 
Holy.— Isaiah  Ivii :  15. 

"  The  bell  strikes  one.     My  hopes  and  fears 

Start  up  alarmed,  and  o'er  life's  narrow  verge 

Look  down — on  what?    A  fathomless  abyss! 

A  dread  eternity!   how  surely  mine ! 

And  can  eternity  belong  to  me, 

Poor  pensioner  on  the  bounties  of  an  hour !  " 

— EDWARD  YOUNG. 


BUILDING   FOR  ETERNITY. 

Let  us  build  for  eternity.  A  ship,  however  pretty  she 
may  be,  is  not  good  for  anything  unless  she  can  battle  with 
the  deep.  It  makes  no  difference  how  splendidly  you 
build  so  far  as  this  world  is  concerned,  your  life  is  a  fail- 
ure if  you  build  not  so  that  you  can  go  out  into  the  great 
future  and  make  the  harbor  of  eternal  life.  We  are  to 
live  on.  We  are  not  to  live  again,  but  we  are  to  live  on 
without  a  break.  Death  is  not'an  end.  It  is  a  new  im- 
pulse. We  are  discharged  out  of  this  life,  where  we  have 
been  like  arrows  in  a  quiver.  Death  is  a  bow  which  shoots 
us  into  eternity. — BEECHER. 


ETERNITY   BEYOND    COMPARISON. 

Afar  off,  one  can  hardly  tell  which  is  mountain  and 
which  is  cloud.  The  clouds  rise  with  peaks  and  summits, 
all  apparently  as  solid,  and  certainly  as  glistening,  as  the 
snow-clad  Alps,  so  that  the  clearest  eye  might  readily  be 

120 


ETERNITY.  121 

deceived.  So  do  the  things  of  time  appear  to  oe  all  im- 
portant, far-reaching,  and  enduring,  and  eternal  things  are 
not  always  of  equal  weight  to  the  soul  with  those  near  at 
hand.  Yet,  despite  all  our  instinctive  judgments  may 
suggest  to  the  contrary,  nothing  earthly  can  ever  be  last- 
ing, nothing  in  time  can  be  worth  considering  compared  to 
eternity.  — SPURGEON. 

ETERNAL   LIFE   AND   ETERNITY  PARALLEL. 

Now  when  a  man  believes  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he 
gets  eternal  life.  A  great  many  people  make  a  mistake 
right  there:  he  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath — h-a-t-h-  hath 

O  ' 

eternal  life;  it  does  not  say  he  shall  have  it  when  he  comes 
to  die;  it  is  in  the  present  sense;  it  is  mine  now — if  I  be- 
lieve. You  can't  bury  the  gift  of  God;  you  can't  bury 
eternal  life,  any  more  than  you  can  bury  eternity,  for  they 
are  parallel. — MOODY. 

ETERNITY   WILL   REVEAL   TO   SINNERS   THEIR  FOLLY. 

We  are  in  darkness  till  we  are  converted;  because  we  are 
blind — and  that  not  by  accident,  but  by  nature — born 
blind.  There  are  animals,  both  wild  and  domestic,  which 
by  a  strange  and  mysterious  law  of  Providence  are  in  that 
state  when  born.  "Having  eyes,  they  see  not."  Appar- 
ently unripe  for  birth,  they  leave  their  mother's  womb  to 
pass  the  first  period  of  their  being  utterly  sightless.  But 
when  some  ten  days  have  come  and  gone,  time  unseals 
their  eyelids,  and  they  are  delivered  trom  the  power  of 
darkness.  But  not  ten  days,  nor  years,  nor  any-  length  of 
time  will  do  us  any  such  friendly  office.  Not  that  we  shall 
be  always  blind.  Oh,  how  men  shall  see,  and  regret  in 
another  world,  the  folly  they  were  guilty  of  in  this! 
Eternity  opens  the  darkest  eyes,  but  opens  them  at  last  too 
late  — GUTHRIE. 


122  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

TIDES  OF  ETERNITY   RISING. 

A  gentleman  wandering  along  on  the  beach  of  Scotland, 
where  the  high  rocks  came  near  the  sea,  was  unmindful  of 
the  fact  that  the  tide  was  rising,  which  would  cut  ofi  his 
retreat.  A  man  on  the  top  of  the  rocks  shouted,  "Hallo! 
the  tide  is  rising,  and  this  is  the  last  place  through  which 
you  can  make  your  escape;  you  had  better  climb  up  on  to 
the  rocks."  The  man  laughed  at  the  warning  and  went  on. 
After  awhile  he  thought  it  was  time  to  return;  he  camp 
hark  and  found  retreat  cut  off.  He  tried  to  scale  the  rocks; 
he  clambered  half  way  up — could  get  no  further.  The 
wave  came  to  his  feet,  came  to  his  waist,  came  to  his  chin, 
and  with  a  wild  shriek  for  help  he  perished.  Oh,  brother, 
the  tides  of  eternity  are  rising.  Those  only  will  be  saved 
who  get  on  the  Rock  of  Ages. — TALMAGE. 


FAITH. 

"Now  faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evi- 
dence of  things  not  seen" — Hebrews  xi:  i. 


Of  for  a  faith  that  will  not  shrink, 
Tho'  pressed  by  every  foe, 
That  will  not  tremble  on  the  brink 
O'  any  earthly  woe." 


FAITH   THE    ONLY   DOOR. 

There  is  only  one  door  into  heaven;  that  door  is  faith. 
There  is  only  one  ship  that  sails  for  the  skies;  her  name  is 
Faith.  There  is  only  one  weapon  with  which  to  contend 
with  opposition;  that  is  faith.  Faith  is  the  first  step;  faith 
the  second  step;  faith  the  third  step;  faith  the  fourth  step; 
faith  the  last  step.  We  enter  the  road  by  faith.  We  con- 
tend against  adversaries  by  faith;  we  die  by  faith;  heaven 
is  the  reward  of  faith. — TALMAGE. 


FAITH    TRIUMPHANT. 

May  all  of  us  have  that  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
which  availeth,  that  faith  which  worketh  by  love,  and  so, 
though  we  have  begun  in  the  egg  on  earth,  yet,  through 
God's  brooding,  before  we  know  it  we  shall  chip  the  shell: 
and  though  we  have  lain  so  long  coiled  up  and  helpless, 
we  shall  begin  to  put  forth  plumes;  and,  disdaining  the 
nest,  and  finding  the  ground  chilly  beneath  our  feet,  with 
every  gathering  feather  we  shall  pine  for  the  air,  and, 
pining,  begin  to  try  those  notes  which  we  are  yet  to 

123 


124  GEMS  OF  TKU7H  AND  BEAUTY. 

l,,nr  and,  at  length,  in  some  bright  and  beaded  morning, 
we  .hull  -pread  our  wings,  and  rising  above  the  tangle  and 
foe  thicket,  soar  through  the  blue,  singing  to  the  gate  of 
heaven. — BEECHER. 

AN    EXAMPLE   OF   FAITH. 

Suppose  a  fire  in  the  upper  room  of  a  house,  and  the 
people  gathered  in  the  street.  A  child  is  in  the  upper 
story:  how  is  he  to  escape?  He  cannot  leap  down,— that 
were  to  be  dashed  to  pieces.  A  strong  man  comes  beneath, 
and  cries,  "Drop  into  my  arms."  It  is  a  part  of  faith  to 
know  that  the  man  is  there;  it  is  another  part  of  faith  to  ' 
belifve  that  the  man  is  strong;  but  the  essence  of  faith 
lir-  in  dropping  down  into  the  man's  arms.  So,  sinner, 
then  art  to  know  that  Christ  died  for  sin;  thou  art  also  to 
underhand  that  Chri>t  is  able  to  save,  and  thou  art  to 
believe  that;  but  thou  art  not  saved,  unless,  in  addition  to 
that,  thou  puttest  thy  trust  in  him  to  be  thy  Savior,  and 
to  be  thine  forever.— SPURG EON. 

MORE    FAITH. 

When  we  were  in  Edinburg,  a  man  came  to  me  and  said, 
"Over  yonder  is  one  of  the   most  prominent  infidels  in 
Edinburg.     I  wish  you  would  go  over  and  see  him."     I 
took  my  si>at  l>eside  him  and  asked  him  if  he  was  a  Chris- 
tian,    lit-  laughrd  at  me.  and  said  he  didn't  believe  in  the 
Hiblr.     "Well,"  said  I,  after  talkingfor  some  time,  "Will 
v«,u  let  me  pray  with  you?"     "Yes,"  said  he,  "just  pray, 
and  sec  if  God  will   answer  your  prayers."     "Will  you 
kneelT     "No.  I  won't  kneel.     Who  be  I  going  to  kneel 
brfort-r     He  said   it  with   considerable  sarcasm.     I  got 
down   and   prayed   beside  the   infidel.     He   sat  up  very 
straight  so  that  the  people  would  understand  that  he  was 


FAITH.  125 

not  in  sympathy  with  the  prayer.  After  I  got  through,  I 
said,  "Well,  my  friend,  I  believe  that  God  will  answer  my 
prayer,  and  I  want  you  to  let  me  know  when  you  are 
saved."  "Yes,  I  will  let  you'know  when  I  am  saved,"  all 
with  considerable  sarcasm.  At  last  up  at  Wick,  at  a  meet- 
ing in  the  open  air  one  night,  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
crowd,  I  saw  the  Edingburg  infidel.  He  said,  "Didn't  I 
tell  you  God  wouldn't  answer  your  prayer?"  I  said,  "The 
Lord  will  answer  my  prayer  yet."  I  had  a  few  minutes 
conversation  with  him,  and  left  him,  and  just  a  year  ago 
this  month,  when  we  were  preaching  in  Liverpool,  I  got  a 
letter  from  one  of  the  leading  pastors  of  Edinburg,  stating 
that  that  infidel  had  found  his  way  to  Christ. 

There  may  be  many  in  New  York  who  will  laugh  at 
this  idea,  and  say  that  God  don't  answer  prayer,  but  He 
does,  'f  Christians  will  only  have  faith. — What  we  want  is 
to  have  more  faith. — MOODY. 


THE    OLD   AND   THE    NEW. 

Bring  out  from  the  dust  of  six  thousand  years  the  old 
covenant  of  Eden,  and  on  that  soiled  and  torn  banner  you 
read  the  fading  motto,  "Do  and  live."  But  what  read  we 
on  the  folds  of  this  banner,  which,  defiant  of  hell  and  the 
world,  waves  above  Calvary,  and  under  which  believers 
march  to  crowns  and  victory !  The  eye  of  a  sinner's  hope 
kindles  at  the  sight  of  another  and  a  better  motto;  for 
there,  inscribed  in  the  blood  of  Jesus,  like  red  letters  on  a 
snow-white  ground  we  read,  "Believe  and  live."  Salva- 
tion is  the  only  thing  needful  for  man,  and  faith  is  the 
one  thing  needful  for  salvation. — GUTHRIE. 


HEAD-FAITH. 

Faith  is  practically  nothing  so  long  as  it  is  merely  in 
the  head.     Head  faith  can  save  no  man.     This  is  exactly 


126  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

so  in  daily  life.  There  is  no  witchery  nor  mystery  in  this 
doctrine  at  all.  Faith  can  not  s:ive  you  in  commerce  any 
more  than  it  can  save  you  in  religion.  Faith  cannot  save 
the  body  any  more  than  it  can  save  the  soul. 

A  man  believes  that  if  he  puts  his  money  into  certain 
funds,  he  will  get  back  good  interest  with  the  most  ap- 
proved security,  yet  at  the  end  of  a  year  he  gets  literally 
nothing.  How  was  that?  Because,  though  he  believed 
it,  he  did  not  put  any  money  into  the  funds.  Can  faith 
save  him?  A  man  thoroughly  believes  that  if  he  takes  a 
certain  mixture  prescribed  for  him  by  good  medical 
authority,  he  will  get  better,  he  will  be  recovered  from 
his  disease;  but  he  gets  no  better;  he  gets  worse;  because, 
though  he  believed  in  the  mixture,  he  did  not  take  it. 
Can  faith  save  him?  A  man  wants  to  go  to  New  York;  he 
believes  that  ship  is  going;  he  is  quite  sure  that  that  ship 
will  be  there  m  le*s  than  a  fortnight;  yet  he  himself  will 
not  be  there!  How  is  that?  He  had  faith.  He  had  not 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt.  Yet  there  he  is,  in  England!  Can 
faith  take  him  to  New  York?  Can  faith  save  him?— 
PARKER. 


FORGIVENESS. 


"And  forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we  forgive  our  debtors" —  The 
Prayer  of  Prayers. 

"  When  on  the  fragrant  sandal  tree, 

The  woodman's  ax  descends, 
And  she  who  bloomed  so  beauteously 

Beneath  the  keen  stroke  bends, 
E'en  on  the  edge  that  brought  her  death, 
Dying,  she  breathes  her  sweetest  breath, 
As  if  to  token  in  her  fall 
"Peace  to  my  foes,  and  love  to  all!  " 
How  hardly  man  this  lesson  learns, 
To  smile,  and  bless  the  hand  that  spurns; 
To  see  the  blow,  and  feel  the  pain, 
But  render  only  love  again ! 
This  spirit  ne'er  was  given  on  earth; 
One  had  i*-., — He  of  heavenly  birth; 
Reviled,  rejected,  and  betrayed, 
No  curse  He  breathed,  no  plaint  He  made, 
But  when  in  death's  d°ep  pang  He  sighed, 
Prayed  for  his  murderers  and  died." 


CHRISTIANITY  TEACHES  FORGIVENESS. 

For  though  nature,  fallen  and  unrenevved  nature,  hates 
her  enemies,  and,  thirsting  for  vengeance,  would  drag  them 
from  the  horns  of  the  altar,  Christianity  embraces  the 
bitterest  foe  in  the  arms  of  brotherhood. 


Mercy,  like  the  regions  of  space,  has  no  limit;  and  as 
these  stretch  away  before  the  traveler  who  looks  out  from 
the  f:irthe>t  star,  so  the  loftiest  intellect  and  the  largest 
heart  can  descry  no  bounds  to  mercy.  Like  our  Father  in 

127 


128  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

heavpn.  we  are  to  forgive  without  stint,  forgiving  as  we 
expert  to  be  forgiven. — GUTHRIE. 

AN    EXAMPLE   OF  FORGIVENESS. 

An  old  Christian  black  woman  was  going  along  the 
>t  reel -of  New  York  with  a  basket  of  apples  that  she  had 
for  sale.  A  rough  sailor  ran  against  her  and  upset  the 
ba-krt.  and  stood  back  expecting  to  hear  her  scold  fright- 
fully: but  she  stooped  down  and  picked  up  the  apples,  and 
said,  ••  God  forgive  you,  my  son,  as  I  do."  The  sailor 
saw  the  meanness  of  what  he  had  done,  felt  in  his  pocket 
for  his  money,  and  insisted  that  she  should  take  it  all. 
Though  she  was  black,  he  called  her  mother,  and  said, 
••  Forgive  me,  mother;  I  will  never  do  anything  so  mean 
again."  Ah  !  there  is  a  power  in  a  forgiving  spirit  to 
overcome  all  hardness.  There  is  no  way  of  conquering 
men  like  that  of  bestowing  upon  them  your  pardon, 
whether  they  will  accept  it  or  not. — TALMAGE. 

FORGIVENESS   AND  MEMORY. 

"lean  forgive,  but  I  cannot  forget,"  is  only  another 
way  of  saying,  "/  will  not  forgive."  A  forgiveness 
ought  to  be  like  a  cancelled  note,  torn  in  two  and  burned 
up,  so  that  it  can  never  be  shown  against  the  man. 


HEDGE -HOG   FORGIVENESS. 

There  is  an  ugly  kind  of  forgiveness  in  this  world — a 
kind  of  hedge-hog  forgiveness,  shot  out  like  quills.  Men 
take  one  who  has  offended,  and  set  him  down  before  the 
blowpipe  of  their  indignation,  and  scorch  him,  and  burn 
his  fault  into  him;  and  when  they  have  kneaded  him  suffi- 
ciently with  their  fiery  fists,  then — they  forgive  him.— 

HER. 


FORGIVENESS.  129 

CHRIST'S  FORGIVENESS. 

In  the  midst  of  the  darkness  and  the  gloom  of  the  cross, 
there  came  a  voice  from  one  of  those  thieves.  It  flashed 
into  the  soul  of  Jesus  as  He  hung  there,  "  This  must  be 
more  than  man;  this  must  be  the  true  Messiah."  He  cried 
out,  "Lord  remember  me  when  Thou  comest  into  Thy 
Kingdom!"  We  are  anxious  to  get  the  last  word  or  act 
of  our  dying  friends.  Here  was  the  last  act  of  Jesus.  He 
snatched  the  thief  from  the  jaws  of  death,  saying,  "This 
day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise."  Such  was  his 
forgiveness  of  sin,  an  act  of  grace,  as  his  forgiveness  of 
his  murderers  was  an  act  of  mercy. — MOODY. 


WHO  IS   TO   BEGIN? 

Families  and  households  often  get  awry.  The  j'ounger 
brother  differs  from  his  elder  brother, — sisters  fall  out. 
One  wants  more  than  belongs  to  him;  another  is  knocked 
to  the  wall  because  he  is  weak;  and  there  come  into  the 
heart  bitterness  and  alienation,  and  often  brothers  and  sis- 
ters have  scarce  a  kind  word  to  say  of  one  another.  Is  it 
always  to  be  so  ?  Do  not  merely  make  it  up,  do  not  patch 
it  up,  do  not  cover  it  up, — go  right  down  to  the  base.  But 
who  is  to  begin ?  I  can  tell  you.  You  are !  "But  I  am 
the  eldest," — yes,  and  therefore  ought  to  begin.  "But  I 
am  the  youngest."  Then  why  should  the  youngest  be  ob- 
stinate ?  Who  are  you  that  yoti  should  not  go  and  throw 
yourself  down  at  your  brother's  feet  and  say,  "I  have 
done  you  wrong,  pardon  me  ?"  Who  is  to  begin  ?  5Tou  ! 
Which?  Both!  When?  Now !— PARKER. 


FRIENDSHIP. 


'  A  man  that  hath  friends  must  shew  himself  friendly:  and 
there  is  a  friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother.'" — Prov: 
xriii.  24. 

"  For  in  companions 

That  do  converse  and  waste  the  time  together, 
Whose  souls  do  bear  an  equal  yoke  of  love 
There  must  be  needs  a  like  proportion 
Of  liniaments,  of  manners,  and  of  spirit. " 

—SHAKESPEARE.    Merchant  of  Venic«. 


JESUS   THE   BEST  FRIEND. 

I  have  found  a  great  many  kind  friends  but  Jesus  is  the 
best.  He  understands  me  so  well,  and  has  such  a  way  of 
putting  up  with  my  frailties,  and  has  promised  to  do  so 
much  for  me  when  all  other  loved  ones  swim  away  from 
my  vision,  and  I  can  no  more  laugh  with  them  over  their 
joys  or  cry  with  them  over  their  sorrows.  Oh!  when 
a  man  has  trouble,  he  needs  friends.  When  a  man 
loses  property,  he  needs  all  those  of  his  acquaintances  who 
have  lost  property  to  come  in  with  their  sympathy.  When 
bereavement  comes  to  a  household,  it  is  a  comfort  to  have 
Jherewho  have  been  bereaved  come  in  and  sympathize. 
1 1"«1  is  a  sympathetic  friend.  O  the  tenderness  of  divine 
friendship. — TALMAGE. 

FRIENDSHIP  AND  FAULTS. 

It  is  one  of  the  severest  tests  of  friendship  to  tell  your 
lend  of  his  faults.     If  you  are  angry  with  a  man,  or  hate 
s  not  hard  to  go  to  him  and  stab  him  with  words, 
130 


fRIENDSHIP.  131 

but  so  to  love  a  man  that  you  can  not  bear  to  see  the  stain 
of  sin  upon  him,  and  to  speak  painful  truth  through  loving 
words — that  is  friendship.  But  few  have  such  friends. 
Our  enemies  usually  teach  us  what  we  are  at  the  point  of 
the  sword. — BEECHER. 


SUFFERING    FRIENDSHIP. 

In  the  French  revolution,  a  young  man  was  condemned 
to  the  guillotine,  and  shut  up  in  one  of  the  prisons.  He 
was  greatly  loved  by  many,  but  there  was  one  who  loved 
him  more  than  all  put  together.  How  know  we  this?  It 
was  his  best  earthly  friend,  his  own  father,  and  the  love  he 
bore  the  son  was  proven  in  this  way:  When  th6  lists  were 
called,  the  father,  whose  name  was  exactly  the  same  as  the 
son's,  answered  to  the  name,  and  the  father  rode  in  the 
gloomy  tunebril  out  to  the  place  of  execution,  and  his  head 
rolled  beneath  the  axe  instead  of  his  son's,  a  victim  to 
mighty  love.  See  here  an  image  of  the  love  of  Christ  for 
sinners.  "Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this;  that  he 
laid  down  his  life  for  his  friends."  But  Jesus  died  for  the 
ungodly !  He  is  the  friend  of  sinners.  There  is  no  friend- 
ship like  Christ's. — SPURGEON. 


FRIENDS   MUST   AGREE. 

Friends  must  agree.  Enoch  was  a  friend  of  God,  as  was 
Abraham.  God  and  he  agreed  very  well,  so  that  at  last 
God  said  to  him,  "come  up  here  and  walk  with  me."  It 
is  sweet  to  walk  with  God.  We  walk  the  wilderness  to- 
day and  the  promised  land  to-morrow.  Enoch  found  the 
right  way,  back  there  in  that  dim  age;  even  so  may  we 
put  our  hands  in  God's  hand  and  walk  with  Him  as  Enoch 
did,  and  commune  with  Him  as  friend  with  friend.— 
MOODY. 


132  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

FRIENDSHIP  PECULIAR  TO  MEN. 

Though  the  lower  animals  have  feeling,  they  have  no 
fellow-feeling.  Have  I  not  seen  the  horse  enjoy  his  feed 
of  corn,  when  his  yoke  fellow  lay  dying  in  the  neighbor- 
ing stall,  and  never  turn  an  eye  of  pity  on  the  sufferer  ? 
They  have  strong  passions,  but  no  sympathy — no  capacity 
for  friendship.  It  is  said  that  the  wounded  deer  sheds 
tears;  but  it  belongs  to  man  only  to  weep  with  them  that 
weep,  and  by  sympathy  divide  another's  sorrow  and  double 
another's  joys.  When  thunder,  following  the  dazzling 
flash  has  burst  among  our  hills,  when  the  horn  of  the  Switzer 
has  rung  in  his  glorious  valleys,  when  the  boatman  has 
shouted  from  the  bosom  of  the  rock-girt  loch,  wonderful 
were  the  echoes  I  have  heard  them  make;  but  there  is  no 
echo  so  fine  or  wonderful  as  that  which,  in  the  sympathy 
of  human  hearts  repeats  the  cry  of  another's  sorrow,  and 
makes  me  feel  his  pain  almost  as  if  it  were  my  own.— 
GUTHRIE. 


GOD. 


"The  blessed  and  only  Potentate,  the  King  of  kings,  and  Lord 
of  lords  :  Who  only  hath  immortality,  dwelling  in  the  light  which 
no  man  can  approach  unto  ;  whom  no  man  hath  seen,  nor  can  see  : 
to  whom  be  honor  and  power  everlasting'"' — i  Tim.  vi:i$. 

''  0  Thou  Eternal  One!    Whose  presence  bright 
All  space  doth  occupy,  all  motions  guide — 
Unchanged  through  time's  all-devastating  flight! 
Thou  only  God — there  is  no  God  beside ! 
Being  above  all  beings !     Mighty  one, 
Whom  none  can  comprehend  and  none  explore  ! 
Who  fill'st  existence  with  Thyself  alone- 
Embracing  all,  supporting,  ruling  o'er — 
Being  whom  we  call  God,  and  know  no  more." 

— GABRIEL,  DEKZIIAVIN. 
GOD  IS  LOVE. 

Let  no  man,  therefore,  when  he  says,  "Oar  Father  which 
art  in  Heaven,"  suppose  that  he  addresses  a  God  without 
any  color  of  strength,  of  equity,  or  of  penalty.  He  is  a  God 
who  loves  you  so  that  He  will  not  suffer  wickedness  in  you; 
and  that  if  it  be  needful  to  purge  wickedness  out  from 
you  by  exquisite  pains,  will  imploy  the  pains  to  purge  it 
out.  A  God  of  love  and  justice  will  do  that  which  is  neces- 
sary to  be  done  in  order  to  redeem  a  soul  from  death;  and 
whether  pains  and  penalty  will  be  now  or  hereafter,  it  will 
be  averaged  to  the  measure  of  necessity.  The  love  of  God 
does  not  take  away  the  motive  of  fear,  but  augments  it;  it  is 
a.higher  fear,  it  is  a  more  generous  fear.  Love  punishes. 
There  is  no  punishment  like  that  of  love.  And  God  is 
love.  — BEECHER. 

133 


134  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

HIS  NAME  ETERNAL. 

God's  name,  like  Himself  is  abiding.  It  is  eternal.  Even 
if  the  last  harp  of  the  glorified  had  been  touched  with  the 
la>t  fingers;  if  the  last  praise  of  the  saints  had  ceased;  if  the 
last  hallelujah  had  echoed  through  the  then  deserted  vaults 
of  Heaven,  for  they  would  be  gloomy  then;  if  the  last 
immortal  had  been  "buried  in  his  grave;  if  graves  there 
might  be  for  immortals-would  the  praise  of  His  name  cease 
then  ?  No,  by  heaven !  no  ;  for  yonder  stand  the  angels; 
they  too  sing  His  glory;  to  Him  the  cherubim  and  sera- 
phim do  cry  without  ceasing,  when  they  mention  His  name 
in  that  thrice  holy  chorus,  ''Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  of 
armies."  But  if  these  where  perished— if  angels  had  been 
swept  away,  if  the  wing  of  seraph  never  flapped  the  ether, 
if  the  voice  of  cherub  never  sang  his  flaming  sonnet,  if 
the  living  creatures  ceased  their  everlasting  chorus,  if 
the  measured  symphonies  of  glory  were  extinct  in  silence, 
would  His  name  then  be  lost  ?  Ah  !  no  ;  for  as  God  upon 
the  throne  He  sits  THE  EVELASTING  ONE,  the  Father, 
Son  and  Holy  Ghost. — SPURGEON. 


WRONG  CONCEPTION  OF    GOD. 

If  I  thought  I  could  make  the  world  believe  that  God  is 
love,  I  would  take  that  text  and  go  up  and  down  the  earth, 
trying  to  counteract  what  Satan  has  been  telling  men — that 
God  is  not  love.  He  has  made  the  world  believe  it  pretty 
effectually.  It  would  not  take  twenty-four  hours  to  make 
the  world  come  to  God,  if  you  can  only  make  them  believe 
that  God  is  love.  If  you  have  really  made  a  man  believe 
you  love  him,  you  have  won  him.  But  man  has  got  a  false 
idea  about  God,  and  will  not  believe  He  is  a  God  of  love. 
It  is  because  he  don't  know  Him.  Whatever  other  concep- 
tion of  God,  either  right  or  wrong,  you  may  have,  don't 


GOD.  135 


let  this  be  forgotten — He  is  love,  love  unchangeable,  love 
everlasting,  love  unfailing. — MOODY. 


GOD  IN   NATURE. 

Insects  as  well  as  angels,  the  flowers  that  spangle  the 
meadow  as  well  as  the  stars  that  spangle  the  sky,  the  lamp  of 
the  glow-worm  as  well  as  the  light  of  the  sun,  the  lark  that 
sings  in  the  air  and  the  saint  that  sings  in  Paradise,  the  still 
small  voice  of  conscience  as  well  as  the  thunders  that  rend 
the  clouds,  or  the  trump  that  shall  rend  the  tomb,  these  and 
all  things  else  reveal  God's  attributes  and  proclaim  his 
praise.  — GUTHRIE. 


GOD   A   PARENT. 

The  Bible  is  a  warm  letter  of  affection  from  a  parent  to  a 
child,  yet  there  are  many  who  see  chiefly  the  severer  pass- 
ages. As  there  may  be  fifty  or  sixty  nights  of  gentle  dew  in 
one  summer,  that  will  not  cause  as  much  remark  as  one 
hail-storm  of  half  an  hour,  so  there  are  those  who  are  more 
struck  with  those  passages  of  the  Bible  that  announce  the 
indignation  of  God  than  by  those  that  announce  his  affec- 
tion. God  is  a  Lion,  John  says  in  the  Book  of  Revelation . 
.God  is  a  Breaker,  Micah  announces  in  his  prophecy.  God 
is  a  Rock.  God  is  a  King.  But  hear  also  that  God  is  Love. 
A  father  and  his  child  are  walking  out  in  the  fields  on  a 
summer's  day,  and  there  comes  up  a  thunder  storm;  and 
there  is  a  flash  of  lightning  that  startles  the  child,  and 
the  father  says,  "My  dear,  that  is  God's  eye."  There  comes 
a  peal  of  thunder  and  the  father  says,  "My  dear  that  is  God's 
voice."  But  the  clouds  go  off  the  sky,  and  the  storm  is 
gone,  and  the  light  floods  the  heavens,  and  floods  the  land- 
scape; and  the  father  forgets  to  say,  "That  is  God' s  smile." 
Let  us  not  shut  our  eyes  to  God's,  tender  nature.  He  is  a 
father.  He  is  our  mother. — TALMAOE. 


136  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

A  CHALLENGE  TO  ATHEISTS. 

You  say  this  God  was  dreamed  by  human  genius.  Be  it 
so.  Make  Him  a  creature  of 'fancy.  What  then?  The  man 
who  made,  or  dreamed,  or  otherwise  projected  such  a  God 
must  be  the  author  of  some  other  work  of  equal  or  approxi- 
mate importance.  Produce  it!  That  is  the  sensible  reply 
to  so  bold  a  blasphemy.  Singular  if  man  has  made  Jehovah 
and  then  has  taken  to  the  drudgery  of  making  oil  paintings, 
and  ink  poems,  and  huts  to  live  in.  Where  is  the  congruity. 
A  man  says  he  kindled  the  sun,  and  when  asked  for  his 
proof,  he  strikes  a  match  which  the  wind  blows  out !  Is  the 
evidence  sufficient  ?  Or  a  man  says  he  has  covered  the  earth 
with  all  the  green  and  gold  of  summer,  and,  when  challenged 
to  prove  it,  he  produces  a  wax  flower  which  melts  in 
his  hands!  Is  the  proof  convincing?  The  God  of  the 
Bible  calls  for  the  production  of  other  gods — gods  wooden, 
gods  stony,  gods  ill-bred,  gods  well-shaped,  and  done  up 
skillfully  for  market  uses ;  from  His  Heavens  He  laughs 
at  them,  and  from  His  high  throne  he  holds  them  in  derision. 
Again  and  again  I  demand  that  the  second  effort  of  human 
genius  bear  some  obvious  relation  to  the  first.  We  wait  for 
the  evidence.  We  insist  upon  having  it;  and,  that  we  may 
not  waste  our  time  in  idle  expectancy,  we  will  meanwhile 
call  upon  God,  saying,  "Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven, 
hallowed  be  Thy  name.  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth5  as  it 
is  in  Heaven  1" — PARKER. 


THE  GOSPEL. 


"lam  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ :  for  it  is  the  po 
of  God  unto  salvation,  to  every  one  that  believeth." — Rom.  i: 

*'  Upon  the  Gospel's  sacred  page 
The  gathered  beams  of  ages  shine; 
And  as  it  hastens  every  age 
But  makes  its  brightness  more  divine." 

— SIB  JOHN  BQWXLNO 


THE   GOSPEL  ETERNAL. 

When  was  there  a  time  when  the  Gospel  of  Christ  did 
not  exist?  Can  you  point  your  finger  to  a  period  when 
the  religion  of  Jesus  was  an  unheard  of  thing?  "Yes," 
one  replies,  "  before  the  days  of  Christ  and  his  apostles." 
But  we  answer,  "  Nay,  Bethlehem  was  not  the  birthplace 
of  the  gospel.  Though  Jesus  was  born  there,  there  was  a 
gospel  long  before  the  birth  of  Jesus,  and  a  preached  one, 
too;  although  not  preached  in  its  simplicity  and  plainness, 
as  we  hear  it  now.  There  was  a  gospel  in  the  wilderness 
of  Sinai,  although  it  might  be  confused  with  the  smoke  of 
the  incense,  and  only  to  be  seen  through  slaughtered  vic- 
tims; yet  there  was  a  gospel  there."  Yea,  more,  we  take 
them  back  to  the  fair  trees  of  Eden,  where  the  fruits  per- 
petually ripened,  and  summer  always  rested,  and  amid 
these  groves  we  tell  them  there  was  a  gospel,  and  we  let 
them  hear  the  voice  of  God  as  he  spoke  to  recreant  man, 
and  said,  "The  seed  of  the  woman  shall  bruise  the  ser- 
pent's head."  Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  gospel.— 
SPURGEON. 

137 


138  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

GOSPEL  MEANT  FOR  ALL. 

"The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me  because  He  hath 
annointed  me  to  preach  the  Gospel."  Now,  the  question 
i-.  who  shall  the  Gospel  be  preached  to?  There  is  a  cer- 
tain class  of  people  who  think  that  the  Gospel  is  very  good 
for  drunkards,  and  thieves,  and  vagabonds;  but  there  are 
M)  many  of  these  self-righteous  Pharisees  to-day,  who  are 
drawing  their  filthy  rags  of  self-righteousness  around  them, 
and  thinking  the  Bible  is  for  a  certain  class.  If  I  under- 
stand it  correctly,  the  Gospel  is  for  all.  There  is  no  dis- 
tinction; rich  and  poor  must  be  served  alike;  learned  and 
unlearned,  all  have  to  come  into  the  Kingdom  of  God  one 
way,  and  that  is  by  believing  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 
— MOODY. 


THE   GOSPEL  DESTINED  TO   BE   UNIVERSAL. 

A  single  grain  of  corn  would,  were  the  produce  of  each 
-on  sown  again,  so  spread  from  field  to  field,  from 
country  to  country,  from  continent  to  continent,  as  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years  to  cover  the  face  of  the  whole  earth 
with  one  wide  harvest,  employing  all  the  sickles,  filling  all 
the  barns,  and  feeding  all  the  mouths  in  the  world.  Such 
an  event,  indeed,  could  not  happen  in  nature,  because  each 
latitude  has  its  own  productions,  and  there  is  no  plant 
formed  to  grow  alike  under  the  sun  of  Africa,  and  amid 
the  snows  of  Greenland.  It  is  the  glory  of  the  Gospel, 
and  one  of  the  evidences  of  its  divine  origin  that  it  can; 
and,  unless  prophecy  fail,  that  it  shall.  There  is  not  a 
Miore  which  shall  not  be  sown  with  this  seed;  not  a  land 
but  shall  yield  harvests  of  glory  to  God  and  of  souls  for 
tieaven.  By  revolutions  that  are  overturning  all  things, 
by  w:ir'srude  and  bloody  share,  and  otherwise,  God  is 
breaking  up  the  fallow  ground,  and  ploughing  the  earth 

'  a  glorious  seed-time.     The  seed  that  sprang  up  in 


THE  GOSPEL.  139 

Bethlehem  shall  wave  over  Arctic  snows  and  desert  sands; 
and  as  every  shore  is  washed  by  one  sea,  and  every  land 
that  lies  between  the  poles  is  girdled  by  one  hemisphere, 
and  every  drop  of  blood  in  human  veins  belongs  to  one 
great  family,  of  brothers,  so  in  God's  set  time,  men  of  every 
color  and  tongue  shall  cherish  a  common  faith,  and  trust 
in  a  common  Savior. — GUTHRIE. 


THE   GOSPEL  A  DELUSION. 

Some  accuse  the  Gospel  of  being  a  delusion.  Powerful 
delusion,  all-conquering  delusion,  earth-quaking  delusion 
of  the  Christian  religion.  Yea,  it  goes  on,  it  is  so  imper- 
tinent, and  it  is  so  overbearing,  this  chimera  of  the  Gos- 
pel, that  it  has  conquered  the  great  picture  galleries  of  the 
world,  the  old  masters  and  the  young  masters,  and  having 
done  this  it  is  not  satisfied  until  it  has  conquered  the  music 
of  the  world.  Yes  this  chimera  of  the  Gospel  is  not  satis- 
fied until  it  goes  on  and  builds  itself  into  the  most  per- 
manent architecture,  so  it  seems  as  if  the  world  is  never  to 
get  rid  of  it.  What  are  some  of  the  finest  buildings  in 
the  world  ?  St.  Paul's,  St.  Peter's,  the  churches  and  ca- 
thedrals of  all  Christendom.  Yes,  this  impertinence  of 
the  Gospel,  this  vast  delusion  is  not  satisfied  until  it  pro- 
jects itself,  and  in  one  year  gives,  contributes  $6,250,000 
to  foreign  missions.  The  work  of  which  is  to  make 
dunces  and  fools  on  the  other  side  of  the  world — people 
we  have  never  seen. — TALMAGE. 

THE   GOSPEL  AT  HOME. 

Spreading  Christianity  abroad  is  sometimes  an  excuse 
for  not  having  it  at  home.  A  man  may  cut  grafts  from 
his  tree  till  the  tree  itself  has  no  top  left  with  which  to 
bear  fruit.  In  the  end,  the  power  of  Gospel  missions  will 


140  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

l>c  measured  by  the  zeal  of  enlightened  piety  at  home,  as 
the  circulation  of  the  blood  at  the  extremities  of  the  body 
will  depend  upon  the  soundness  of  the  lungs  and  heart.  I 
•  !<>  not  say  that  we  should  not  send  the  Gospel  abroad;  but 
mat  we  may  do  it,  there  must  be  more  of  it  at  home.  We 
must  deepen  the  wells  of  salvation,  or  drawing  will  run 
them  diy. — BEECHER.. 


GRACE. 

"The  grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salvation" — Titus  ii:  II. 


"Thou  art  coming  to  a  king! 
Large  petitions  with  thee  bring, 
For  His  grace  and  power  are  such, 
Thou  canst  never  ask  too  much." 


LAW    AND   GRACE. 

How  differently  do  law  and  grace  work!  The  law 
"Stone  the  sinner;"  grace  says,  "Forgive  him."  When 
Moses  was  in  Egypt  to  punish  Pharaoh,  he  turued  the 
waters  into  blood.  When  Christ  was  on  earth,  He  turned 
the  water  into  wine.  That  is  the  difference  between  la \v 
and  grace.  Law  makes  us  crooked;  grace  straightens  u«. 
The  law  makes  us  vile;  grace  cleanses  us.  When  the  la\v 
came  out  of  Horeb,  3,000  men  were  lost.  At  Penticost. 
under  grace,  3,000  men  got  life.  What  a  difference! 
When  Moses  came  up  to  the  burning  bush,  he  was  com- 
manded to  take  the  shoes  off  from  his  feet.  When  the 
prodigal  came  home  after  sinning,  he  was  a  given  a  pair  of 
shoes  to  put  on  his  feet.  I  would  a  thousand  times  rather 
be  under  grace  than  under  the  law. — MOODY. 


GRACE   OF  GOD   AN   ARCH. 

As  with  an  arch,  the  grace  of  God  stands  the  firmer  the 
more  weight  you  lay  on  it;  it's  sufficiency,  at  least,  will  be 
the  more  evident;  the  more  clearly  you  will  see  the  pro- 
mise, "My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee."  With  the 

141 


142  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

well  ever  full  and  ever  flowing,  our  vessels  need 
never  be  empty.  Whether,  therefore  you  want  more 
faith,  more  purity  of  heart  or  peace  of  mind,  more 
li<rht  or  love,  a  humbler  or  a  holier  spirit,  a  calmer 
or  a  tenderer  conscience,  a  livelier  sense  of  Christ's 
excellences  or  of  your  own  unworthiness,  more  tears  for 
Christ's  feet,  or  honor  for  his  head,  fear  not  to  draw,  to 
hope,  to  ask  too  much. — GUTHRIE. 


GRACE   DOES   NOT   CHANGE    MEN   FROM   NATURE. 

The  popular  impression  is  that  grace  is  designed  to 
change  men  from  nature.  No.  They  are  sinful  simply 
because  they  have  deviated  from  their  true  nature,  or  fallen 
short  of  it.  Grace  is  given  to  bring  out  the  followers  of 
every  man's  nature.  Not  the  nature  which  schoolmen 
write  about;  but  that  nature  which  God  thought  of,  when 
He  put  forth  man,  and  pronounced  him  a  child  of  God, 
bearing  his  Father's  likeness.— BEECHER. 


EARLY   TRAINING. 

Grace,  like  flower-seed  needs  to  be  sown  in  spring.  The 
Hrst  fifteen  years  of  life,  and  often  the  first  six,  decide  the 
eternal  destiny. 


CHRIST   ON    A   THRONE   OF   GRACE. 

( 'hrist  is  on  a  throne  of  grace.  Our  case  is  brought  be- 
fore him.  The  question  is  asked:  "Is  there  any  good 
about  this  man?"  The  law  answers,  "None."  Justice 
wye,  "None."  Nevertheless  Christ  hands  over  our  par- 
Ion,  and  asks  us  to  take  it,  Oh!  The  height  and  depth, 
the  length  and  breadth  of  his  mercy.— TALM AGE. 


GRACE.  143 

PAYSON  ON  "GRACE." 

Payson,  when  dying,  expressed  himself  with  great  earn- 
estness respecting  the  grace  of  God  as  exercised  in  saving 
lost  men,  and  seemed  particularly  affected  that  it  should 
be  bestowed  on  one  so  ill  deserving  as  himself.  "  O,  how 
sovereign!  O,  how  sovereign!  Grace  is  the  only  thing 
that  can  make  us  like  God.  I  might  be  dragged  through 
heaven,  earth,  and  hell,  and  I  should  be  the  same  sinful, 
polluted  wretched  transgressor,  unless  God  himself  should 
renew  and  cleanse  me." — SPURGEON. 


HEAVEN. 

"  There  remaineth  therefore  a  rest  for  the  people  of  God"- 
Heb:  iv.  g. 

Jerusalem  the  golden, 

With  milk  and  honey  blessed, 
Beneath  thy  ci.uttmplation 

Sink  heart  :r:d  voice  oppressed, 
I  know  not,  O  I  know  not 

What  social  joys  are  there; 
What  radiance  of  glory 

What  light  beyond  compare. 

—BERNARD  of  Cluny,  Tr.  by  J.  M.  NEALE. 


HEAVEN   A   PLACE   OF   LOVE. 

Heaven  is  the  only  place  where  the  conditions  of  love 
can  be  fulfilled.  There  it  is  essentially  mutual.  Every- 
body loves  everybody  else.  In  this  world  of  wickedness 
and  sin  it  seems  impossible  to  be  all  on  a  perfect  equality. 
When  we  meet  people  who  are  bright  and  beautiful  and 
good,  we  have  no  difficulty  in  loving  them.  All  the  people 
of  heavrn  will  be  like  that.  There  will  be  no  fear  of 
misplaced  confidence  there.  We  will  never  be  deceived 
by  those  we  love.  When  a  suspicion  of  doubt  fastens  upon 
any  one  who  loves,  their  happiness  from  that  moment  is 
at  an  end.  There  will  be  no  suspicion  there. 

"  Beyond  these  chilling  winds  :  nd  gloomy  skies. 

Beyond  death's  cloudy  portal, 
There  is  a  land  where  beanty  never  dies, 

Where  love  becomes  immortal." 

— MOODY 

144 


HEAVEN.  H5 

COMPORT  FOR   SORROWFUL   HEARTS. 

Oh  ye  whose  locks  are  wet  with  the  dews  of  the  night 
of  grief;  ye  whose  hearts  are  heavy  because  those  well- 
known  footsteps  sound  no  more  at  the  doorwav,  yonder  is 
your  rest!  There  is  David  triumphant;  but  once  he  be- 
moaned Absalom.,  There  is  Abraham  enthroned;  but  once 
he  wept  for  Sarah.  There  is  Paul,  he  is  exultant,  but  he 
once  sat  with  his  feet  in  the  stocks.  There  is  Pay  son  radi- 
ant with  immortal  health;  but  on  earth  he  was  always 
sick.  No  toil:  no  tears:  no  partings:  no  strife:  no  agon- 
izing cough:  no  night.  No  storm  to  ruffle  the  crystal  sea. 
No  alarm  to  strike  from  the  cathedral  towers.  No  dirge 
throbbing  from  seraphic  hearts.  No  tremor  in  the  ever- 
lasting song;  but  rest — perfect  rest — unending  rest. — 
TALMAGE. 


THE   SWEETEST  MUSIC. 

The  sweetest  music  is  not  the  peal  of  marriage  bells,  nor 
tender  descants  in  moonlight  woods,  nor  trumpet  notes  qf 
victory — it  is  the  soul's  welcome  to  heaven.  God  grant 
that  when  we  die  there  may  not  come  booming  to  our  ear 
the  dreadful  sound,  "Depart!"  But  may  we  hear  stealing 
upon  the  air  the  mellow  chime  of  all  the  celestial  bells 
saying,  "Come,  come,  come,  ye  blessed,  enter  ye  into  the 
joy  of  your  Lord!" 

JOY   FOR  TIMID   SAINTS. 

To  a  Christian  who  has  lived  all  his  lifelong  in  bondage 
unto  fear,  not  daring  to  believe  himself  a  child  of  God, 
how  sweet  will  be  the  awakening  in  heaven.  With  great 
dread  and  trembling  he  will  approach  the  death  hour,  and 
go  down  through  chilling  mists  and  vapors  to  the  unknown 
sea,  and  when  upon  the  other  shore  sweet  strains  come  to 


146  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

his  ear,  he  will  not  understand  them,  but  fair  form  after 
fair  form  will  appear  to  greet  him,  and  at  length,  from  the 
impearled  atmosphere  God's  whole  band  of  gathering  and 
reaping  angels,  more  in  number  than  the  autumn  leaves 
out-streaming  from  the  forest  when  there  are  bursts  of 
wind,  will  come  forth,  filling  all  the  air  with  music,  and 
minister  unto  him  an  abundant  entrance  into  the  kingdom! 
It  were  almost  enough  to  make  one's  heaven  to  stand  and 
see  the  first  wild  stirring  of  joy  in  the  face,  and  hear  the 
first  rapturous  cry  as  they  cross  the  threshold,  of  thousands 
of  timid  Christians  who  lived  weeping  and  died  sighing, 
but  who  will  wake  to  find  every  tear  an  orb  of  joy  and 
every  sigh  an  inspiration  of  God.  O,  the  wondrous  joy 
of  heaven  to  those  who  did  not  expect  it! — BEECHEB. 


THE   CHRISTIANS  HOME. 

In  his  best  hours,  home,  his  own  sinless  home — a  home 
with  his  Father  above  that  starry  sky — will  be  the  wish  of 
every  Christian  man.  He  looks  around  him — the  world  is 
full  of  suffering;  he  is  distressed  by  its  sorrows,  and  vexed 
by  its  sins.  He  looks  within  him — he  finds  much  in  his 
own  corruptions  to  grieve  him.  In  the  language  of  a 
heart  repelled,  grieved,  vexed,  he  often  turns  his  eye  up- 
ward, saying,  "I  would  not  live  alway."  No.  Not  for 
all  the  gold  of  the  world's  mines,  not  for  all  the  pearls  of 
the  seas,  not  for  all  the  pleasures  of  her  flashing,  frothy 
cup,  not  for  all  the  crowns  of  her  kingdoms — would  I  live 
lien-  ahvay.  Like  a  bird  about  to  migrate  to  those  sunny 
lands  where  no  winter  sheds  her  snows,  or  strips  the 
grove,  or  binds  the  dancing  streams,  he  will  often  in  spirit 
be  pruning  his  wing  for  the  hour  of  his  flight  to  glory. 
— GUTHRIE. 


HE  A  VEN.  147 

HEAVEN  WORTH   STRIVING  FOR. 

Julius  Caesar,  going  towards  Rome  with  bis  army,  and 
hearing  that  the  senate  and  people  had  fled  from  it,  said, 
"They  that  will  not  fight  for  this  city,  what  city  will  they 
fight  for  ?"  If  we  will  not  take  pains  for  the  Kingdom  of 
heaven,  what  kingdom  will  we  take  pains  for  ?— SPURGEON. 


HELPS   ON   THE   WAY. 

When  Abraham  went  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  at  the 
command  of  God,  on  his  way  he  received  a  renewal  of  the 
promise.  Very  beautiful  was  this!  It  showed  that  he  was 
on  the  right  road,  and  that  God's  faithfulness  followed  him 
like  an  angel  of  defence.  It  is  so  with  ourselves  on  the 
journey  to  the  better  Canaan,  where  the  upper  springs 
never  dry,  and  the  summer  lies  like  an  infinite  blessing 
over  the  whole  land. 

*'  There  shall  be  no  more  enow, 
No  weary  wandering  feet." 

O,  fair  Canaan!  A  land  so  near,  did  we  but  know  itl 
Just  over  the  river,  the  stream,  the  faint  dark  rill.  It  was 
a  river  to  our  youth,  it  is  a  stream  to  our  manhood,  it  will 
be  but  a  rill  to  the  faith  of  our  old  age!  And  as  we  move 
to  it,  step  by  step,  what  words  of  love  and  hope  are  spoken 
to  us  by  the  Lord  of  the  fair  land!  How  he  helps  us  up 
the  steps  that  are  long  and  hard;  how  he  cheers  us  along 
the  road  that  is  flat  and  tedious;  how  he  throws  a  robe 
around  us  when  the  fierce  winds  blow  upon  us  in  bitter 
cold.—  PABKEB. 


HOLINESS. 


"  Holiness  to  the  Lord" — Ex.  xxviii: 
"  More  holiness  give  me, 

More  strivings  within; 
More  patience  in  suffring, 

More  sorrow  for  sin, 
More  faith  in  my  Savior, 

More  sense  of  His  care; 
More  joy  in  His  service, 

More  purpose  in  prayer." 


A  HOLY  MAN. 

Abraham  was  a  holy  man.  Each  important  transaction 
of  life  was  entered  on  in  a  pious  spirit,  and  hallowed  by 
religious  exercises.  His  tent  was  a  moving  temple.  His 
household  was  a  pilgrim  church.  Wherever  he  rested, 
whether  by  the  venerable  oak  of  Marnre,  or  on  the  olive 
slopes  of  Hebron,  or  on  the  lofty  forest-crowned  ridge  of 
Bethel,  mi  jiltar  arose;  and  his  prayers  went  up  with  its 
smoke  to  heaven.  Such  daily,  intimate  and  loving  com- 
munion did  this  grand  saint  maintain  with  heaven,  that 
God  calls  him  his  "  friend."  He  lived  on  terms  of  fellow- 
ship with  God,  such  as  had  not  been  seen  since  the  days  of 
Eden.  Voices  addressed  him  from  the  skies;  angels  paid 
visits  to  his  tent,  and  visions  of  celestial  glory  hallowed 
his  lowly  couch  and  mingled  with  his  nightly  dreams.  His 
life  was  one  of  holy  devotion  and  consecrated  righteous- 
ness.— GUTHRIE. 

HOLINESS   BY   THE   BLOOD. 

Holiness  is  gained  only  by  the  application  of  Christ's 

148 


HOLINESS.  149 

blood.  A  heathen  got  worried  about  his  sins,  and  came  to 
a  priest  and  asked  how  he  might  be  cured.  The  priest 
said,  "If  you  will  drive  spikes  in  your  shoes  and  walk 
five  hundred  miles  you  will  get  over  it."  So  he  drove 
spikes  in  his  shoes  and  began  the  pilgrimage,  trembling, 
tottering,  agonizing  on  the  way,  until  he  got  about  twenty 
miles  and  sat  down  under  a  tree,  exhausted.  Near  by,  a 
missionary  was  preaching  Christ,  the  Savior  of  all  men. 
When  the  heathen  heard  it,  he  pulled  off  his  sandals,  threw 
them  as  far  as  he  could,  and  cried,  "That's  what  I  want; 
give  me  Jesus  !  give  me  Jesus  !  "  Oh,  ye  who  have  been 
convicted  and  worn  of  sin,  trudging  on  all  your  days  to 
reap  eternal  woe,  will  you  not,  at  the  announcement  of  a 
full  and  glorious  atonement,  throw  your  torturing  trans- 
gressions to  the  wind?  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
cleameth  from  all  sm." — TALMAGE. 

A   BEAUTIFUL  CHARACTER. 

Holiness  is  beauty.  There  is  no  beauty  like  that  of  a 
pure  character.  The  grandest  sight  on  this  earth  is  not  the 
march  of  the  all-conquering  storm  whose  cloudy  battalions 
go  rushing  through  the  sounding  heavens;  the  most  beau- 
tiful thing  on  earth  is  not  the  garden  which  opens,  and 
sends  forth  from  its  censers  fragrance;  it  is  not  the  state- 
liness  of  the  tree  which  you  sit  under  through  the  long 
summer's  day;  those  are  Lot  the  most  beautiful  things  on 
earth  that  art  carves  out  of  stone;  the  beauty  of  the  soul 
lies  in  its  secret  chambers;  and  the  rich,  deep,  just,  holy 
and  loving  natures — these  are  the  beautiful  things  of  this 
world.  There  is  nothing  so  beautiful  as  Christ  in  man. — 
BEECHER. 


ACQUIRED  BY   COMMUNION   WITH  CHRIST. 

A.S  courtiers  are  more  polite  in  their  manners  than  ordi- 


150  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

nary  subjects,  because  they  are  more  in  their  prince's  com- 
pany, so  may  the  society  of  the  Lord's  holy  servants  raise 
the  tone  of  our  thought  and  make  us  aspire  after  a  sanctity 
beyond  what  we  possess.  If  the  society  of  Christ's  dis- 
ciples be  thus  helpful,  we  may  be  sure  that  communion 
with  their  Lord  will  be  still  more  so.  If  we  learn  good 
manners  from  the  man,  what  may  we  expect  from  being 
with  the  master.  From  Jesus  we  shall  learn  gentleness 
and  love,  purity  and  self-sacrifice,  and  so  acquire  the 
courtly  manners  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  There  is  no 
preparation  for  heaven  like  abiding  with  heaven's  Lord. 
The  oftener  we  are  in  God's  court,  tae  more  holy  we  shall 
become. — SPURGEON. 


HOLINESS   AND   HUMILITY. 

Some  one  asked  a  minister  if  he  had  ever  received  a 
second  blessing  since  he  was  converted.  "  What  do  you 
mean?"  was  the  reply.  "1  have  received  ten  thousand 
since  the  first."  A  great  many  think  because  they  have 
been  holy  once,  they  are  going  to  be  holy  for  all  time 
after.  But  O,  my  friends,  we  are  leaky  vessels,  and  have 
to  be  kept  right  under  the  fountain  all  the  time  in  order  to 
be  kept  full.  If  we  are  going  to  be  used  by  God,  we  must 
be  very  humble.  Humility  and  holiness  go  together.  A 
man  that  lives  close  to  God  will  be  the  humblest  of  men. 
Let  us  keep  near  Him. — MOODY. 


HOLY  SPIRIT. 


"  He  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  fire" — 
Matt.  Hi:  n. 


"Our  blessed  Redeemer,  ere  he  breathed 

His  tender  last  farewell. 
A  Guide,  a  Comforter  bequeathed, 

With,  us  on  earth  to  dwell. " 

— HABRIET  ATJBEB. 

THE   SPIRIT    A   DOVE. 

In  the  far  East  there  is  a  bird  called  the  Huma,  about 
which  is  the  beautiful  superstition  that  upon  whatever 
head  the  shadow  of  that  bird  rests,  upon  that  head  there 
shall  be  a  crown.  Oh,  thou  Dove  of  the  Spirit,  floating 
above  us,  let  the  shadow  of  thy  wing  fall  upon  our  heads, 
that  each,  at  last,  in  heaven  may  wear  a  crown!  a  crown! 
and  hold  in  his  right  hand  a  star!  a  star! — TALMAGE. 


NECESSARY  TO  CONVERSION. 

Some  regard  religion  as  a  sort  of  divine  aura,  which 
descends  upon  a  man  and  encircles  him,  as  silvery  mists 
enwreath  autumnal  mountain  tops.  There  is  a  sense  in 
which  this  is  true.  No  one  would  become  a  Christian 
without  the  direct  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  any  more  than  a 
bud  would  become  a  blossom  without  the  influence  of  the 
sun;  but  yet  personal  religion  is  the  result  of  personal 
choice.  — BEECHEK. 

151 


152  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

THE    OFFICE    OF  THE  SPIRIT. 

Call  it  fanaticism  if  you  will,  but  I  trust  that  there  are 
some  of  us  who  know  what  it  is  to  be  always,  or  generally, 
under  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit — always  in  one 
sense,  generally  in  another.  When  we  have  difficulties 
we  ask  the  direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  When  we  do  not 
understand  a  portion  of  Holy  Scripture,  we  ask  God  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  shine  upon  us.  When  we  are  depressed, 
the  Holy  Spirit  comforts  us.  You  can  not  tell  what  the 
power  of  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is.  How  it 
pulls  back  the  hand  of  the  saint  when  he  would  touch  the 
forbidden  thing;  bow  it  prompts  him  to  make  a  covenant 
with  his  tyes;  how  it  binds  his  feet  lest  they  should  fall  in 
a  slippery  way;  how  it  restrains  his  heart,  and  keeps  him 
from  temptation.  O  ye,  who  know  nothing  of  the  in- 
dwelling of  the  Holy  Ghost,  despise  it  not. — SPURGEON. 


A  REPROVER  OF  SIN. 

The  Holy  Spirit  tells  a  man  of  his  faults  in  order  to  lead 
him  to  a  better  life.  In  John  xvi:  8,  we  read:  "He  is  to 
reprove  the  world  of  sin."  There  is  a  class  of  people  who 
don't  like  this  part  of  the  Spirit's  work.  Do  you  know 
why?  Because  He  convicts  them  of  sin;  they  don't  like 
that.  What  they  want  is  some  one  to  speak  comforting 
words  and  make  everything  pleasant;  keep  everything  all 
quiet;  tell  them  there  is  peace  when  there  is  war;  tell  them 
it  is  light  wbec  if  is>  dark;  tell  them  everything  is  growing 
1  ictter;  that  the  world  is  getting  on  amazingly  in  good- 
ness; that  is  the  kind  of  preaching  tLer  arfi  seeking  for. 
That  suits  human  nature,  for  it  is  full  of  priat.  MCB  w$l 
strut  around  and  say,  "Yes,  I  believe  that;  the  world  * 
improving;  I  am  a  good  deal  better  man  than  my  fatfcv 
was;  my  father  was  too  strict;  he  was  Puritanical.  O,  we 


HOLY  SPIRIT.  153 

are  getting  on;  we  are  more  liberal;  my  father  wouldn't 
think  of  going  out  riding  on  Sunday,  but  we  will;  we  will 
trample  the  laws  of  God  under  our  feet;  we  are  better 
than  our  fathers." 

Just  wait  till  you  bring  the  Word  of  God  to  bear  upon 
them,  and  the  Spirit  drives  it  home,  then  men  will  say: 
"  I  don't  like  that  kind  of  preaching;  I  will  never  go  to 
hear  that  man  again."  The  Spirit  of  God  convicts  men  of 
sin.  Do  not  blame  the  preacher  for  it,  but  the  Holy 
Ghost.  — MOODY. 


THE  SPIRIT'S  POWER. 

Sin  never  wove,  in  hottest  hell-fires  the  devil  never 
forged  a  chain,  which  the  Spirit  of  God,  wielding  the 
hammer  of  jthe  word,  cannot  strike  from  fettered  limbs. 
Put  that  to  the  test.  Try  the  power  of  prayer.  Let  con- 
tinued, constant,  earnest,  wrestling  prayer  be  made  for 
those  that  are  chained  to  their  sins,  and,  so  to  speak, 
"thrust  into  the  inner  prison,"  and  see,,  as  when  on  that 
night  when  Peter  was  led  forth  by  the  angels'  hand,  whether 
your  prayers  are  not  turned  into  most  grateful  praises.— 
GUTHEIE. 


HOME. 


u And  the  Lord  haf.h  brought  me  home  again" — Ruth  i  :  ai. 

"I  was  a  wandering  sheep 

I  did  not  love  the  fold ; 
I  did  not  love  my  shepherd's  voice, 

I  would  not  be  controlled: 
I  was  a  wayward  child, 

I  did  not  love  my  home, 
I  did  not  love  my  Father's  voice  — 

I  loved  afar  to  roam. 

No  more  a  wandering  sheep, 

I  love  to  be  controlled, 
I  love  my  tender  shepherd's  voice,* 

I  love  the  peaceful  fold: 
No  more  a  wayward  child, 

I  seek  no  more  to  roam; 
I  love  my  heavenly  Father's  voice, 

I  love,  I  love  His  home." 

WHAT  IT  MEANS. 

Home— ask  ten  diflerent  men  the  meaning  of  that  word 
and  they  will  give  you  ten  difierent  definitions.  To  one  it 
means  love  at  the  hearth,  it  means  plenty  at  the  table,  in- 
dustry at  the  workstand,  intelligence  at  the  books,  devo- 
tion at  the  altar.  In  that  home,  Discord  never  sounds  his 
warwhoop,  and  Deception  never  tricks  with  his  false  face. 
To  him  it  means  a  greeting  at  the  door  and  a  smile  at  the 
chair.  Peace  hovering  like  wings,  joy  clapping  her  hands 

ith  laughter.  Life  a  tranquil  lake.  Pillowed  on  the 
ripples  sleep  the  shadows. 

Ask  another  man  "What  is  home  2 "  He  will  tell  you 

154 


HOMR.  155 

it  is  Want  looking  out  of  a  cheerless  fire  grate,  kneading 
hunger  in  an  empty  bread  tray.  The  damp  air  shivering 
with  curses.  No  Bible  on  the  shelf.  Children,  robbers 
and  murderers  in  embryo.  Obscene  songs  their  lullaby. 
Every  face  a  picture  of  ruin  :  want  in  the  background,  and 
sin  staring  from  the  front.  No  Sabbath  wave  rolling 
over  that  door-sill.  Vestibule  of  the  pit.  Shadow  of  in- 
fernal walls.  Furnace  for  forging  everlasting  chains. 
Faggots  for  an  unending  funeral  pile.  Awful  word  !  It 
is  spelled  with  curses,  it  weeps  with  ruin,  it  chokes  with 
woe,  it  sweats  with  the  death  agony  of  despair.  The  word 
"home"  in  the  one  case  means  everything  bright.  The 
word  "  home  "  in  the  other  case  means  everything  terrific. 
— TALMAGE. 

HOTEL  VERSUS  HOME. 

A  man  living  at  a  hotel  is  like  a  grape-vine  in  a  flower 
pot —  moveable,  carried  around  from  place  to  place,  docked 
at  the  root  and  short  at  the  top.  No  where  can  a  man  get 
real  root-room,  and  spread  out  his  branches  until  they 
touch  the  morning  and  the  evening,  but  in  his  own  home. 
— BEECHER. 


GOING  HOME. 

See  how  the  horse  pricks  up  his  ears  and  quickens  his 
pace  when  you  turn  his  head  to  his  stable.  Much  more 
then  should  intelligent  Christian  men  feel  the  attractions 
of  their  heavenly  home.  Courage,  brothers  and  sisters; 
we,  too,  are  homeward  bound.  Every  hour  brings  us 
nearer  to  the  many  mansions.  We  are  not  going  from 
home,  or  we  might  hang  our  heads:  our  way  is  toward  the 
Father's  house  on  high,  therefore  let  us  rejoice  at  every 
step  we  take. — SPURGEON. 


156  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

MAKING   A  HOME   HAPPY. 

A  little  girl  who  had  attended  one  of  our  meetings  went 
home  and  climbed  upon  her  father's  knees  and  said. 
"Papa,  you  have  been  drinking  again."  It  troubled  him. 
If  his  wife  had  spoken  to  him,  he  might  have  got  mad  and 
gone  out  into  some  shop  or  saloon,  and  got  more  liquor, 
but  that  little  child  acted  like  an  angel.  He  came  down  to 
our  meetings  with  her  and  found  out  how  he  might  be 
saved,  and  now  that  home  is  a  little  heaven.  There  are 
many  homes  that  might  be  made  happy  in  that  way.— 
MOODY. 


HOPE. 

we  are  saved  by  hope" — Rom.  viii:  24., 


"Hope,  only  hope,  of  all  that  clings 
Around  us,  never  spreads  her  wings." 

— O.  W.  HOLMES. 


HOPELESS   SOULS 

While  some  saints  enjoy  a  clear  assurance  of  their  salva- 
tion, and  stretching  toward  heaven  behold  the  land  that  is 
very  far  off,  as  seamen  from  their  outlook  descry  the 
mountain-tops,  when  their  bark  is  ploughing  a  waste  of 
waters,  and  yet  a  long  way  from  land,  there  are  other 
Christians  who  pass  their  days  in  a  state  of  despondency. 
The  sun  seldom  breaks  out  to  cheer  them.  Their  hope 
has  a  hard  fight  with  their  fears.  It  is  little  they  know  of 
rejoicing  in  the  Lord,  and  joy  in  the  God  of  their  salva- 
tion. By  help  of  God's  word,  their  compass,  they  suc- 
ceed, no  doubt,  in  steering  their  way  to  heaven,  but  it  is 
over  a  troubled  sea,  and  under  a  cloudy  sky;  nor  are  they 
ever  happy  enough  to  be  delivered  from  doubt  and  fear, 
till  fears  are  lost  in  light,  and  they  find  themselves  safe  in 
glory.  — GUTHRIE. 


THE   STAR  OF  HOPE. 

Christ  is  the  star  of  hope.  I  would  like  to  have  my 
death-bed  under  that  star — I  would  like  to  have  my  eye  on 
that  star,  so  I  could  be  assured  of  the  morning.  Then  the 
dash  of  the  surf  on  the  sea  of  death  would  only  be  the 
billowing  up  of  the  promise,  "When  thou  passest  through 
the  waters  I  will  be  with  thee,  and  the  rivers,  they  shall 

157 


158  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

not  overflow  thee."  All  other  lights  will  fail,  the  light 
that  falls  from  the  scroll  of  fame,  the  light  that  flashes 
from  the  gem  in  the  beautiful  apparel,  the  light  that  flames 
from  the  burning  lamps  of  a  banquet— but  this  light  burns 
on  and  burns  on.  Paul  kept  his  eye  on  that  star  until  he 
could  say,  ''I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished 
my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith."  Edward  Payson  kq>t 
his  eye  on  that  star  until  he  could  say,  "The  breezes  of 
heaven  fan  me.''  John  Tennant  kept  his  eye  on  that  star 
until  he  could  say,  "Welcome,  sweet  Lord  Jesus,  welcome, 
eternity."  No  other  star  ever  pointed  a  mariner  into  so 
safe  a  harbor.  No  other  star  ever  sunk  its  silver  anchor 
so  deep  into  the  waters. — TALMAGE. 


A  CHAMBER  OF     THE   SOUL. 

Hope  is  one  of  the  chambers  of  the  soul — if  haply  you 
can  see  the  inscription  over  the  door.  It  has  two  sides 
and  two  windows.  From  one  of  these  you  can  see  the 
stars,  the  heaven  beyond,  the  Holy  City,  the  angels  of 
God,  the  General  Assembly,  and  church  of  the  first  born. 
This  is  shut!  The  other  window  looks  out  into  the  world's 
highway,  and  sees  men,  caravans,  artificers,  miners,  arti 
sans,  engineers,  builders,  bankers,  brokers,  pleasure- 
mongers.  That  window  stands  wide  open,  and  is  much 
used!— BEECHER. 


NO   WORD   FOR  HOPE. 

It  is  reported  that  in  the  Tauml  language  there  is  no 
word  for  hope.  Alas!  poor  men,  if  we  were  all  as  destitute 
of  the  blessed  comfort  itself,  as  these  Tamul  speakers  are 
of  the  word!  What  must  be  the  misery  of  souls  in  hell, 
where  they  remember  the  word,  but  can  never  know  hope 
itself! — SPURGEON. 


HOPE.  159 

NECESSITY  OF  HOPEFULNESS. 

Did  you  ever  notice  this,  that  no  man  or  woman  is  ever 
used  by  God  to  build  up  His  kingdom  who  has  lost  hope? 
Now,  I  have  been  observing  this  through  different  parts 
of  the  country,  and  wherever  I  have  found  a  worker  in 
God's  vineyard  who  has  lost  hope,  I  have  found  a  man  or 
woman  not  very  useful.  Now,  just  look  at  these  workers. 
Let  your  mind  go  over  the  past  for  a  moment.  Can  you 
think  of  a  man  or  woman  whom  God  has  used  to  build 
His  kingdom  who  has  lost  hope?  I  don't  know  of  any; 
I  never  heard  of  such  an  one.  It  is  very  important  to 
have  hope  in  the  Church,  and  it  is  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  impart  hope,  "that  you  may  abound  in  hope 
through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  A  man  filled 
with  the  Spirit  of  God  will  be  very  hopeful — MOODY. 


HUMILITY. 


"  He  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted" — Matt,  xviii .-  4. 


''  Higher  than  the  highest  heaven, 
Deeper  than  the  deepest  sea. 

Lord,  Thy  love  at  last  has  conquered, 
None  of  self,  and  all  of  Thee." 


THE  CHILD  OF  KNOWLEDGE.  . 

Wise  men  ever  know  their  own  ignorance  and  are  ready 
to  learn.  Humility  is  the  child  of  knowledge.  Michael  An- 
gelo  was  found  by  the  Cardinal  Farnese  walking  in  solitude 
amid  the  ruins  of  the  Coliseum,  and  when  he  expressed  his 
surprise,  the  great  artist  answered,  i'l  go  yet  to  school 
that  I  may  continue  to  learn."  Who  among  us  can  after 
this,  talk  of  finishing  our  education?  We  have  need  to  learn 
of  all  around  us.  He  must  be  very  foolish  who  cannot  tell 
us  something;  or  more  likely,  we  must  be  very  foolish  not 
to  be  able  to  learn  of  him. — SPURGEON. 


GOD'S  ALPHABET. 

I  suppose  Isaiah  thought  he  was  as  good  as  most  men,  in 
his  day,  and  perhaps  he  was  a  good  deal  better  than  most 
men,  but  when  he  saw  the  Lord,  he  cried,  "Woe  is  me,  for 
I  am  undone;  because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips".  When 
he  saw  the  Lord,  he  saw  his  own  deformity,  and  he  fell  in  the 
dust  before  the  Lord.  And  that  is  the  proper  place  for  the 
sinner.  Until  men  realize  their  own  uncleanness  they  talk 


HUMILITY.  161 

of  their  own  righteousness,  but  the  moment  they  catch  a 
sight  of  Him  their  mouth  is  stopped.  We  can  not  learn  to 
read  till  we  learn  the  alphabet.  We  can  not  come  into  His 
kingdom  until  we  are  humble.  That  is  God's  alphabet. 
— MOODY. 


THE  STRENGTH   OF  PIETY. 

We  have  wondered  at  the  lowliness  of  a  man,  who  stood 
among  his  compeers  like  Saul  among  the  people — to  find  him 
simple,  gentle,  generous,  docile,  humble  as  a  little  child — till 
we  found  that  it  is  with  great  men  as  with  great  trees. 
What  giant  tree  has  not  giant  roots  ?  When  the  tempest 
has  blown  over  some  such  monarch  of  the  forest,  and  he  lies 
in  death  stretched  out  at  his  full  length  upon  the  ground, 
on  seeing  the  mighty  roots  that  fed  him — the  strong  cables 
that  moored  him  to  the  soil — we  cease  to  wonder  at  his  noble 
stem,  and  the  broad,  leafy,  lofty  head  he  raised  to  heaven, 
defiant  of  storms.  Let  us  not  forget  that  humility  is  the 
root  and  strength  of  lofty  piety. — GUTHRIE. 


SONS  OF  HUMANITY. 

They  who  have  been  the  deliverers  of  literature  and 
nations  have  come  from  homes  without  afiluence, and  by  the 
discipline  of  their  own  privations  have  learned  how  to  speak 
and  fight  for  the  ignorant  and  oppressed.  Poetry  and  science 
and  laws  and  constitutions  and  commerce  were  born,  like 
Jesus,  in  a  manger.  Most  of  thegreat  thoughts  which  have 
seemed  the  axletrees  on  which  the  centuries  turned,  had 
their  start  in  obscure  corners,  and  had  Herods  who  tried  to 
slay  them,  and  Iscariots  who  betrayed  them,  and  unjust 
prelates  who  condemned  them,  ami  rabbles  that  crucified 
them,  till  they  burst  out  again  in  glorious  resurrection. 
Many  are  the  noble  sons  of  humanity. — TALMAGE. 


162  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

JOY  A  FRUIT   OF  HUMILITY. 

Our  humiliations  work  out  our  most  elevated  joys.  The 
way  that  a  drop  of  rain  comes  to  sing  in  a  leaf  that  rustles 
in  the  top  of  a  tree  all  summer  long,  is  by  going  down  to 
the  roots  first,  and  from  thence  ascending  to  the  bough.— 
BEECHEB. 


INFIDELITY, 


"  Without  God  in  the  world." — Eph.  it:  12. 


God  is  in  this  and  every  place ; 

But  O,  how  dark  and  void 
To  me ! — 'tis  one  great  wilderness 

This  earth  without  my  God." 

— CHARLES  WESLEY. 


Forth  from  his  dark  and  lonely  hiding  place, 

Portentious  sight !  the  owlet  Atheism, 
Sailing  on  obscene  wings  athwart  the  noon, 

Drops  his  blue-fringed  lids,  and  holds  them  close, 
And  hooting  at  the  glorious  sun  in  heaven, 

Cries  out,  Where  is  it  ?  —  COLERIDGE. 


THE   MOST  ALARMING   INFIDELITY. 


The  most  dangerous  infidelity  of  the  day  is  the  infidelity 
rich  and  orthodox  churches. — BEECHER. 


HAVE   INFIDELS   SOMETHING  BETTER? 

No  matter  how  infidel  philosophers  may  regard  the  Bible  : 
they  may  say  that  Genesis  is  awry,  and  that  the  Psalms  are 
snore  than  half  bitter  imprecations,  and  the  Prophecies  only 
the  phantasies  of  brain-bewildered  men,  and  the  Gospels 
weak  laudations  of  an  impostor,  and  the  Epistles  but  the 
letters  of  a  mad  Jew,  and  that  the  whole  book  has  had  its 
lay;  I  shall  cling  to  it  until  they  show  me  a  better  revela- 
tion. The  Bible  emptied,  effete,  worn  out !  If  all  the 
wisest  of  the  world  were  placed  man  to  man,  they  could 

163 


164  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

not  sound  the  shallowest  depth  of  the  Gospel  of  John.  O 
philosophers  !  break  the  shell,  and  fly  out,  and  let  me  hear 
how  you  can  sing.  Not  of  passion— I  know  that  already; 
not  of  wordly  power— I  hear  that  everywhere  ;  but  teach 
me,  through  your  song,  how  to  find  joy  in  sorrow,  strength, 
in  weakness,  and  light  in  darkest  days;  how  to  bear  buffet 
ing  and  scorn,  how  to  welcome  death,  and  to  pass  through 
its  ministration  into  the  sphere  of  life;  and  this  not  for 
me  only,  but  for  the  whole  world  that  groans  and  travails  in 
pain;  and  until  you  can  do  this,  speak  not  to  me  of  u  better 
revelation.  — IBID. 

INFIDELITY  A   SIN. 

I  affirm,  and  the  world  declares  it,  unbdiefis  a  sin  Is  it 
not  a  sin  for  a  creature  to  doubt  the  word  of  its  maker  ?  Is 
it  not  a  crime  and  an  insult  to  the  Divinity  for  me,  an  atom, 
a  particle  of  dust,  to  dare  to  deny  His  words?  Is  it  not 
the  very  summit  of  arrogance  and  extremity  of  pride,  for 
a  son  of  Adam  to  say,  even  in  his  heart,  "God,  I  doubt  thy 
grace;  I  doubt  thy  love;  I  doubt  thy  power  ?"  Oh!  sirs, 
believe  me,  could  you  roll  all  sins  into  one  mass;  could  you 
take  murder,  and  blasphemy,  and  lust,  and  adultery  and 
everything  that  is  vile,  and  unite  them  all  into  one  vast 
globe  of  black  corruption,  they  would  not  equal  then,  the 
sin  of  unbelief.  This  is  the  monarch  sin,  the  quintessence 
of  guilt;  the  mixture  of  the  venom  of  all  crimes;  the  dregs 
of  the  wine  of  Gomorrah;  it  is  the  master-piece  of  Satan; 
the  chief  work  of  the  devil. — SPURGEON. 


INFIDELS  IGNORANT  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Of  all  the  skeptics  and  infidels  I  have  ever  met,  I  have 
yet  to  meet  the  first  one  that  has  read  the  Bible  through 
from  beginning  to  end.  Now,  if  a  book  comes  out,  and 
you  have  not  read  all  of  it,  you  say,  "I  have  not  read  it 


INfWELlTY.  165 

through  yet,  and  don't  like  to  express  my  opinion  until  I 
have  more  carefully  read  it."  But  people  are  not  afraid 
of  expressing  their  opinion  of  God's  book  after  having  read 
a  few  chapters,  and  because  they  don't  understand  what 
they  have  read,  they  condemn  the  whole.  When  these  infi- 
dels and  unbelievers  go  up  and  stand  before  the  Lord,  they 
will  say,  "I  was  very  anxious  to  accept  your  invitation  to 
attend  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb,  but  there  were  some 
things  in  the  Bible  that  were  dark  and  mysterious,  and  so  I 
could  not  accept  the  invitation."  That  excuse  sounds  very 
well  here,  but  up  there  you  can't  tell  that.  You  will  be 
speechless  when  you  stand  before  God's  bar. — MOODY. 


INFIDELITY  DEFEATED. 

The  history  of  infidelity,  were  it  written,  would  present  a 
succession  of  ignominious  defeats;  defeats  due  not  to  any 
want  of  ability  in  those  who  have  assailed  the  truth,  but  to 
this:  that  its  defenders  have  driven  them  out  of  all  their  posi- 
tions. The  history,  the  morality,  the  theology,  the  consisf 
ency,the  authenticity,  the  genuineness  of  the  Bible,  the  truth 
of  its  prophecies,  and  the  very  possibility  of  its  miracles  have 
been  all  attacked,  each  in  its  turn,  and  with  the  same  result. 
We  have  seen  the  soldier  return  from  the  fields  of  war 
with  scars  as  well  as  medals  on  his  breast,  but  our  religion 
has  come  out  of  a  thousand  fights  unscarred,  from  a  thousand 
fires  unscathed.  She  bears  no  more  evidence  of  the  as- 
saults she  has  sustained  than  the  air  of  the  swords 
that  have  cloven  it,  or  the  sea  of  the  keels  which  have 
ploughed  its  foaming  waves;  than  some  bold  rocky  head- 
land of  the  billows  that  dashing  against  it  in  proud  but 
impotent  fury,  have  shivered  themselves  on  its  sides.— 

GUTHRIE. 


166  GEMS  OF  TRU'iHAND  BEATUY. 

A  WORD  TO  MR.    INGERSOLL. 

He  (Mr.  Ingersoll)  is  said  to  be  a  very  brave  man.  I 
dare  him  to  do  one  thing.  I  dare  him  to  take  his  mother's 
Bible,  and  some  Sunday  afternoon,  go  into  his  room,  and 
locking  the  door,  kneel  down,  and  while  kneeling  read  the 
fourteenth  chapter  of  John.  Nothing  there  about  Jonah 
and  the  whale;  nothing  there  about  the  sun  and  moon  stop- 
ping; nothing  there  about  the  manner  in  which  Eve  was 
made.  Certainly  a  man  so  brave  that  he  defies  the  God  of 
the  universe,  and  scoffs  at  the  armies  of  martyrs  and  apos- 
tles, and  prophets,  and  bullies  perdition — certainly,  a  man 
as  brave  as  that  ought  to  be  brave  enough  on  a  Sabbath 
afternoon  to  go  into  his  room  and  kneel  down,  if  the  door 
is  locked,  and  read  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  John. 

Here  is  infidelity:  no  prayer  on  her  lips,  no  benediction 
on  her  brow,  both  hands  clenched — what  for?  To  fight 
Christianity.  That  is  the  entire  business.  That  is  the 
complete  mission  of  infidelity — to  fight  Christianity. 
Where  are  her  schools,  her  colleges,  her  asylums  of 
mercy?  Let  me  throw  you  down  a  whole  ream  of  foolscap 
paper  that  you  may  fill  all  of  it  with  the  names  of  her  bene- 
ficent institutions,  the  colleges  and  the  asylums,  the  insti- 
tutions of  mercy,  founded  by  infidelity,  and  supported  by 
infidelity,  pronounced  against  God;  and  the  Christian  reli- 
gion and  yet  in  favor  of  making  the  world  better.  "  Oh," 
you  say,  "  a  rea«i  of  paper  is  too  much  for  the  names  of 
those  institutions."  "Well  then,  I  throw  you  a  quire  of 
paper.  Fill  it  it  all  up  now.  I  will  wait  until  you  get  all 
the  names  down.  "Oh,"  you  say,  "that  is  too  much." 
Well,  then,  I  will  just  hand  you  a  sheet  of  letter  paper. 
Just  fill  up  the  four  sides  while  we  are  talking  of  this  mat- 
ter. "  Oh,"  you  say,  "  that  is  too  much  room.  We  don't 
want  a  whole  sheet  of  paper  to  write  down  the  names." 
Perhaps  I  had  better  tear  out  one  leaf  from  my  hymn  book, 


INFIDELITY.  167 

and  ask  you  to  fill  up  both  sides  of  it  with  the  names 
of  such  institutions.  "Oh,"  you  say,  "  that  is  too  much 
room;  you  don't  want  so  much  room  as  that."  Well  then 
suppose  you  count  them  on  your  ten  fingers.  "  Oh,"  you 
say,  "not  'quite  so  much  as  that."  Well,  then,  count  them 
on  the  fingers  of  one  hand.  "  Oh,"  you  say,  "not  quite 
so  many  as  that."  Well,  then,  count  on  one  finger  the  name 
of  any  institution  founded  by  infidelity,  supported  by  infi- 
delity, pronounced  against  God,  and  the  Christian  religion, 
yet  toiling  to  make  the  world  better.  Not  one!  Not  one! 
— TALMAGE. 


INTEMPERANCE. 


"Nor  drunkards  shall  inherit  the  Kingdom  of  God." — /  Cor, 
vi:  10. 


"No,  I'll  shun  the  hollow  glee, 
And  the  mirth  and  revelry, 
Where  King  Alcohol  must  be 

Crowned  the  monarch  of  the  feast; 
For  this  rosy-fingered  devil, 
Prince  and  priest  of  all  things  evil, 
While  this  poor  weak  head  is  level, 

Ne'er  shall  make  a  slave  of  me." 


"DROWNING  CARE." 

Some  men  drink  to  excess  to  drown  care.  As  well  may 
a  man  in  debt  drink  to  drown  bis  thoughts;  it  neither  pays 
the  debt,  nor  postpones  the  reckoning.  O,  soul,  be  true 
to  thyself.  When  conscience  is  uneasy,  it  is  foolish  as 
well  as  wicked  to  attempt  to  smother  its  cries  with  worldly 
merriment. — SPURGEON. 


A  DRUNKARD   SAVED. 

Look  you,  down  there  in  the  dark  alleys  of  New  York 
is  a  poor  drunkard.  If  you  want  to  get  near  hell,  go  to  a 
poor  drunkard's  home.  Go  to  the  house  of  that  poor 
liuM-raWe  drunkard.  See  the  want  and  distress  that  reigns 
there.  But  hark!  A  footstep  is  heard  at  the  door,  and 
the  (hildren  run  and  hide  themselves.  The  patient  wife 
waits  to  meet  him.  The  m:m  has  been  her  torment.  Many 
a  time  she  has  borne  about  for  weeks  the  marks  of  blows 

168 


INTEMPERANCE.  169 

Many  a  time  that  strong  right  hand  has  been  brought 
down  on  her  defenceless  head.  And  now  she  waits,  ex- 
pecting to  hear  his  oaths,  and  to  receive  his  brutal  treat- 
ment. He  comes  in  and  says  to  her:  "I  have  been  to  the 
meeting,  and  I  heard  there,  that  if  I  will,  I  can  be  con- 
verted. I  believe  that  God  is  able  to  save  me."  Go  down 
to  that  house  in  a  few  weeks  and  see  what  a  change!  As 
you  approach,  you  have  some  one  singing.  It  is  not  the 
long  of  a  reveller,  but  "The  Rock  of  Ages."  The  chil- 
dren are  no  longer  afraid  of  him,  but  cluster  around  his 
knee.  His  wife  is  near  him,  her  face  lit  up  with  a  happy 
glow.  I  can  take  you  to  thousands  of  homes  made  happy 
by  such  power  of  the  religion  of  Christ.  O  ye  slaves  to 
drink,  or  sin  of  any  kind,  God  will  give  you  power  to  over- 
come temptation,  and  to  lead  a  right  life. — MOODY. 


TWO   CHILDREN. 

In  the  country  I  have  often  seen  a  little  child,  with  her 
sun-browned  face  and  long  golden  locks,  sweet  as  any 
flower  she  pressed  beneath  her  naked  foot;  merry  as  any 
bird  that  sung  from  bush  or  brake,  driving  the  cattle 
home;  and  with  fearless  hand  controlling  the  sulky  leader 
of  the  herd,  as  with  armed  forehead  and  colossal  strength 
he  quailed  before  that  slight  image  of  God.  Some  days 
ago  I  saw  a  different  sight — such  a  child,  with  hanging 
head,  no  music  in  his  voice,  nor  blush  but  that  of  shame 
upon  his  cheek,  leading  home  a  drunken  father  upon  the 
public  street.  The  man  required  to  be  led,  guided, 
guarded.  And  into  a  condition  hardly  less  helpless  large 
masses  of  our  people  have  sunk.  Why  do  they  drink? 
Look  at  their  unhappy  and  most  trying  circumstances. 
Many  of  them  are  born  with  a  propensity  to  this  vice. 
They  suck  it  in  with  a  mother's  milk.  The  drunken  parent 


170  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY, 

transmits  to  his  children  a  proneness  to  his  fatal  indulgence. 
The  foul  atmosphere  which  many  of  them  breathe,  the 
hard  labor  by  which  many  of  them  earn  their  bread,  pro. 
duce  a  prostration  which  seeks  in  stimulants  something  to 
rally  the  system,  nor  will  they  be  debarred  from  their  use 
by  any  prospect  of  danger.  With  our  improved  tastes, 
our  books,  our  recreations,  our  domestic  comforts,  we  have 
no  adequate  idea  of  the  temptations  to  which  the  poor  are 
exposed,  and  from  which  nothing  is  truer  kindness  than  to 
protect  them. — GUTHRIE. 

INTEMPERANCE   AMONG  WOMEN. 

I  am  told  that  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  fashionable 
for  women  to  drink;  and  it  is  not  very  long  ago  that  a 
lady  of  great  respectability,  in  this  city,  having  taken  two 
glasses  of  wine  away  from  home,  became  violent,  and  her 
friends,  ashamed,  forsook  her,  and  she  was  carried  to  a 
police  station,  and  afterward  to  her  disgraced  home.  I 
care  not  how  well  a  woman  may  dress,  if  she  has  taken 
enough  of  wine  to  flush  her  cheek,  and  put  a  glassiness  on 
her  eye,  she  is  intoxicated.  She  may  be  handed  into  a 
2,500  dollar  carriage,  and  have  enough  of  diamonds  to 
confound  the  Tiffanys — she  is  intoxicated.  She  may  be  a 
graduate  of  Packer  Institute,  and  the  daughter  of  some 
man  in  danger  of  being  nominated  for  the  Presidency,  she 
is  drunk.  You  may  have  a  larger  vocabulary  than  I  have, 
and  you  may  say  in  regard  to  her  that  she  is  "convivial,'' 
or  tshe  is  " merry,"  or  she  is  "festive,"  or  she  is  " exhilar- 
ated"; but  you  can  not  with  all  your  garlands  of  verbiage, 
cover  up  the  fact  that  it  is  an  old-fashioned  case  of  drunk. 
— TALMAGE. 


A  WARNING. 

The  victim  pauses,  gazes  around  upon  the  scene  r.bout 


INTEMPERANCE.  1 7 1 

his  path  of  sin,  and  whispers,  "  Is  it  harmless?"  "Harm- 
less!" responds  a  serpent  from  the  grass.  Harmless! 
echo  the  sighing  winds.  Harmless!  re-echo  a  hun- 
dred airy  tongues.  If  now  a  gale  from  heaven 
might  only  sweep  the  clouds  away  through  which  the  vic- 
tim gazes!  O,  it  God  would  break  that  potent  power 
which  chains  the  blasts  of  hell,  and  let  the  sulphur-stench 
roll  up  the  vale,  how  would  the  vision  change — the  road 
become  a  track  of  dead  men's  bones,  the  heavens  a  lower- 
ing storm,  the  balmy  breezes  distant  wailings,  and  all  those 
balsam-shrubs  that  lied  to  his  senses  sweat  drops  of  blood 
upon  their  poison  boughs! 

Ye  who  are  meddling  with  the  edges  of  vice,  ye  are,  on 
this  road,  and  utterly  duped  by  its  enchantments.  Your 
eye  has  already  lost  its  honest  glance,  your  taste  has  lost 
its  purity,  your  heart  throbs  with  poison.  The  leprosy  is 
all  over  you;  its  blotches  and  eruptions  cover  you.  Your 
feet  stand  on  slippery  places,  whence  in  due  time  they 
shall  slide,  if  you  refuse  the  warning  which  I  raise.— 
BEECHER. 


JUDGMENT. 


"  For  we  must  all  stand  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ  "- 
I  Cor,  v:  JO. 


Before  me  place  in  dread  array, 
The  pomp  of  that  tremendous  day, 

When  thou  with  clouds  shalt  come 
To  judge  the  nations  at  thy  bar; 
And  tell  me,  Lord,  shalt  i  be  there 

To  meet  a  joyful  doom? 

— CHARLES  WESLEST. 

The  day  of  wrath,  that  dreadful  day, 
When  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away, 
What  power  shall  be  the  sinner's  stay, 
How  shall  he  meet  that  dreadful  day? 

SIR  WALTER  SCOTT. 


THE  CROWNING  DAY  OF  RECKONING. 

The  word  of  God  teaches  us  plainly  that  there  is  future 
retribution;  if  it  does  not  teach  that  it  does  not  teach  any- 
thing. If  it  tells  us  about  the  glory  of  heaven,  and  the 
mansions  that  Christ  has  gone  to  prepare,  it  tells  us  also 
about  the  torments  of  hell;  it  tells  about  the  rich  man  lift- 
ing up  his  face  in  torment  and  crying  for  water.  Now 
some  people  say,  "  Oh,  you  are  just  tryingto  scare  us,  you 
>ay  such  things  just  to  alarm  us."  I  would  consider  my- 
self an  unfaithful  servant  if  I  did  not  so  warn  you.  The 
blood  of  your  soul  would  be  required  at  my  hands  if  I  did 
not  so  Avarn  you  Chr.-st  says,  "How  shall  you  escape  the 
damnation  of  hell  i  "  No  one  spoke  of  the  judgment  as 
( 'hrist  did;  none  knew  it  as  well  as  he. — MOODY. 

172 


JUDGMENT.  173 

OUR  RECORD. 

We  shall  meet  again  all  we  are  doing  and  have  done. 
The  graves  shall  give  up  their  dead,  and  from  the  tombs 
of  oblivion  the  past  shall  give  up  all  that  it  holds  in  keep- 
ing, to  be  witness  for  or  witness  against  us.  Oh,  think  of 
that,  and  in  yonder  hall  of  the  inquisition  see  what  its 
efiect  should  be.  Within  those  blood-stained  walls,  for 
whose  atrocious  cruelties  Rome  has  yet  to  answer,  one  is 
under  examination.  He  has  been  assured  that  nothing  he 
reveals  shall  be  written  for  the  purpose  of  being  used 
against  him.  While  making  frank  and  ingenious  con- 
fession he  suddenly  stops.  He  is  dumb — a  mute.  They 
ply  him  with  questions,  flatter  him,  threaten  him;  he  an- 
swers not  a  word.  Danger  makes  the  senses  quick.  His 
ear  has  caught  a  sound;  he  listens;  it  ties  his  tongue.  An 
arras  hangs  beside  him,  and  behind  it  he  hears  a  pen  run- 
ning along  the  pages.  The  truth  flashes  on  him.  Behind 
that  screen  a  scribe  sits  committing  to  the  fatal  page  every 
word  he  says,  and  he  shall  meet  it  again  on  the  day  of 
trial.  Ah!  how  solemn  to  think  that  there  is  such  a  pen 
going  in  heaven,  and  entering  on  the  books  of  judgment  all 
we  say,  or  wish,  all  we  think  or  do. — GUTHRIE. 


AN   AWFUL    FACT. 

A  young  woman,  dying,  said  to  her  father:  "  Father, 
why  did  you  not  tell  me  there  was  a  hell?"  "Jennie, 
there  is  no  such  place.  God  is  merciful.  There  wrill  be 
no  future  suffering."  She  said:  "  I  know  better!  I  feel  it 
now!  I  know  there  is  such  a  place!  My  feet  are  slipping 
into  it  this  moment.  I  am  lost!  Why  did  you  not  tell  me 
there  was  such  a  place?"'  It  is  the  awful,  stupendous, 
consuming,  incontrovertible  fact  of  the  universe  — TAI- 
MAGE. 


174  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

HARSHNESS  IN  JUDGMENT. 

We  ought  to  be  induced  away  from  all  harshness  by  the 
fact  that  we  ourselves  are  to  be  brought  into  high  tribunal 
at  the  last,  and  that  he  shall  have  judgment  without  mercy 
that  has  shown  no  mercy.  You  are  accustomed  with  rough 
grip  to  shake  men  for  their  misdeeds,  waiting  for  no  palli- 
ations, listening  to  no  appeals.  What  will  become  of  you, 
when  at  last,  with  all  your  imperfections,  you  stand  before 
the  bar  of  your  Maker. — IBID. 


THE   SINNERS'S    DOOM. 

To  the  Christian  the  shadow  of  death  is  the  golden  haze 
which  heaven's  light  makes  when  it  meets  the  earth.  But 
to  the  sinner  these  shall  be  shadows  full  of  phantom  shapes. 
Images  of  terror  in  the  future  shall  dimly  rise  and  beckon 
thee,  ghastly  deeds  of  the  past  shall  stretch  out  their  skinny 
hands  to  push  thee  forward.  Thou  shalt  not  die  unattended. 
Despair  shall  mock  thee.  Agony  shall  tender  to  thy 
parched  lips  her  fiery  cup.  Remorse  shall  feel  for  thy 
heart,  and  rend  it  open.  Good  men  shall  breathe  freer  at 
thy  death,  and  utter  thanksgiving  when  thou  art  gone. 
Men  shall  place  thy  grave-stone  as  a  monument  and  testi- 
mony that  a  plague  is  stayed,  no  tears  shall  wet  it,  no 
mourner  linger  there.  And,  as  borne  by  the  blast  thy 
guilty  spirit  whistles  toward  the  gate  of  hell;  the  hideous 
shrieks  of  those  whom  thy  hand  hath  destroyed  shall  pierce 
thee — hell's  first  welcome. — BEECHER. 


DAY  OF   SETTLMENT  FORGOTTEN. 

Is  it  not  foolish  to  be  living  in  this  world  without  a 
thought  of  what  you  will  do  at  last?  A  man  goes  into  an 
inn,  and  as  soon  as  he  sits  down  he  begins  to  order  his 
wine,  his  dinner,  his  bed;  there  is  no  delicacy  in  season 


JUDGMENT.  175 

which  he  forgets  to  bespeak.  He  stops  at  the  inn  for  some 
time.  By  and  by  the  bill  is  forthcoming,  and  it  takes  him 
by  surprise.  "I  never  thought  of  that,  I  never  thought 
of  that!  "  "  Why,"  says  the  landlord,  ''here is  a  man  who 
is  either  a  born  fool  or  else  a  knave.  What!  never  thought 
of  the  reckoning — never  thought  of  settling  with  me!" 
After  this  fashion  too  many  live,  they  eat  and  drink  and 
sin,  but  they  forget  the  inevitable  hereafter,  when  for  all 
the  deeds  done  in  the  body,  the  Lord  will  bring  us  into 
judgment. — SPURGEON. 


LIFE. 

"  What  is  your  tiff."— fames  iv:  1 


Life,  I  know  not  what  thou  art, 
But  know  that  thou  and  I  must  part; 
And  when  or  how  or  where  we  met, 
I  own  to  me's  a  secret  yet. 

Life,  we've  been  long  together, 
Through  pleasant  and  through  cloudy  weather 
'Tis  hard  to  part  when  friends  are  dear, — 
Perhaps  'twill  cost  a  sigh,  a  tear; 

—Then  steal  away,  give  little  warning, 
Choose  thine  own  time; 
Say  not  "  Good  night," — but  in  some  fairer  clime 

Bid  me  "  Good  morning." 

—ANNA  L.  BARBAULD. 


'ACT  IN   THE   LIVING    PRESENT." 

What  we  do,  we  had  better  do  right  away.  The  cloctf 
ticks  now  and  we  hear  it.  After  a  while  the  clock  will  tick 
and  we  will  not  hear  it.  Seated  by  a  country  fireside,  I 
saw  the  fire  kindle,  blaze,  and  go  out.  I  gathered  up  from 
the  hearth  enough  for  profitable  reflections.  Our  life  ia 
just  like  the  fire  on  that  hearth.  We  put  on  fresh  fagoti,. 
and  the  tin-  bursts  through  and  up  and  out,  gay  of  flash, 
gay  of  crackle— emblem  of  boyhood.  Then  the  fire  red- 
dens into  coals;  the  heat  is  fiercer;  and  the  more  it  is  stirred 
the  more  it  reddens.  With  sweep  of  flame  it  cleaves  its 
way  until  all  the  hearth  glows  with  the  intensity — emblem 
of  full  manhood.  Then  comes  a  whiteness  to  the  coals. 
The  heat  lessens.  The  flickering  shadows  have  died  along 
the  wall.  The  fagots  drop  apart.  The  household  hover 

176 


LIFE.  177 

over  the  expiring  embers.  The  last  breath  of  smoke  has 
oeen  lost  in  the  chimney.  The  fire  is  out.  Shovel  up  the 
white  remains.  Ashes! — TALMAGE. 


LAUNCH     OUT. 

The  voyage  of  life  should  be  right  across  the  ocean, 
whose  waters  never  shrink,  and  where  the  keel  never  rubs 
the  bottom.  But  men  are  afraid  to  venture,  and  hang  upon 
the  coast,  and  explore  lagoons,  or  swing  at  anchor  in  wind 
sheltered  bays.  Some  men  put  their  keel  into  riches,  some 
into  sensuous  pleasures,  some  into  friendship,  and  all  these 
are  shallow  for  anything  that  draws  as  deep  as  the  human 
soul  does.  God's  work  in  each  age,  indicated  by  the  great 
movements  of  His  providence,  is  the  only  thing  deep 
enough  for  the  heart.  We  ought  to  begin  life  as  the  source 
of  a  river,  growing  deeper  every  league  to  the  sea;  where- 
as, in  fact  thousands  are  like  men  who  enter  the  mouths  of 
rivers  and  sail  upwards;  finding  less  and  less  water  every 
day;  and  in  old  age  they  lie  shrunk  and  gaping  upon  dry 
gravel.  — BEECHER. 


WRECKS. 

Sailing  down  the  Thames  one  occasionally  sees  a  green 
flag  in  tatters,  inscribed  with  the  word  WRECK,  floating  in 
the  breeze  over  a  piece  of  mast,  or  the  funnel  of  a  steamer 
which  is  just  visible  above  the  water.  Alas!  how  many 
lifes  might  thus  be  marked,  and  how  needful  that  they 
should  be  so  labeled,  lest  they  prove  ruinous  to  others! 
The  debauched,  the  self  righteous,  the  spendthrift,  the 
miserly,  the  apostate,  the  drunken;  how  wisely  might  the 
flag  be  placed  over  them,  for  they  are  WRECKS. — SPUR 
GEON. 


178  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

BUBDEN-BEARING. 

Religious  life  is  a  life  of  burden-bearing.  Fret  not 
against  your  crosses,  and  they  will  be  light.  The  yoke  sits 
easiest  on  the  neck  of  the  patient  ox.  He  feels  his  chain 
the  lightest  who  does  not  drag  but  carry  it.  Bow  before 
your  trials,  as  I  have  read  travelers  do  when  overtaken 
in  the  desert  by  the  dreadful  Simoom.  The  Simoom!  When 
that  cry  arises,  striking  terror  into  the  boldest  hearts,  and 
the  purple  haze  sweeps  on,  which  to  breath  is  death,  they 
make  no  attempt  to  fly — the  swiftest  Arab  scours  not  the 
desert  like  the  wing  of  this  scourge — but,  instantly,  they 
throw  themselves  on  the  ground,  every  head  is  muffled;  and 
there,  low  in  the  dust,  trembling,  dumb,  in  awful  silence 
they  lie,  and  let  the  poisonous  wind  blow  over  them. 
"Hide  thee  in  the  dust,  hidethee  in  the  dust! ''  is  the  voice 
of  God  in  our  life  calamities;  and  the  lower  we  lie  before 
Him,  we  shall  suffer  the  less  when  darkness  comes. 
— GUTHBIE. 


WHAT  IS   MY  LIFE? 

My  life.  A  ship  that  started  well.  All  canvas  set.  A 
fair  wind.  A  sea  all  sun.  Then  a  cloud;  then  a  lurid  glare; 
then  a  lightning  bolt,  and  the  ship  staggered  in  pain  and 
fright.  A  great  north  wind,  harsh,  mighty,  tempestuous, 
and  then  a  sickening  fear  that  I  might  never  reach  the 
shore.  Perhaps  go  down  in  mid  sea;  perhaps  perish  in 
sight  of  land;  perhaps  go  in  more  lost  than  found,  a  wreck 
to  cry  over. 

My  life?  A  bright  bird,  tuneful,  brilliant,  exceedingly; 
singing  as  I  soar;  cleaving  the  wind  and  getting  higher  and 
higher,  and  singing  more  blithely  and  more  still;  when  an 
arrow  strikes  me,  and  I  fall  bleeding  to  the  earth.  Music 
gone;  heart  going;  nothing  but  my  own  blood  about  me. 

What  is  my  life?     A  sullied  robe;  a  crime  concealed;  a 


LIFE.  179 

treason  against  God.  I  ' '  know  the  right  and  yet  the  wrong 
pursue."  I  have  sinned.  I  have  grieved  my  Maker.  I 
have  played  the  mean  trick;  kept  back  the  price;  spoken 
the  false  word;  said  "  yes,"  meant  "  no";  thought  of  self 
Srst,  others  last  and  least.  The  prayer  has  been  upon  my 
tongue,  the  loved  sin  under  it.  The  hymn  religious  has 
aot  cleansed  the  mouth  that  sang  it.  I  have  bent  my  knee 
in  prayer  and  straightened  it  again  to  fight.  I  have  wept 
Dver  sin,  and  done  again  that  sin  that  made  me  weep.  I 
have  stopped  half  way  home,  and  gone  back  to  have  one 
nore  day  with  the  devil.  I  see  oaths,  vows,  promises, 
iying  behind  me  like  tender  blossoms  shaken  from  the 
branches  by  rough  winds  in  tho  spring  time.  My  heart 
iches  with  the  question  "What  shall  I  do  ?  " 

And  the  great  answer  is,  "Do  nothing  of  thyself."  All 
is  done  for  thee.  The  great  Christ  of  God  asks  for  no 
aelp  of  thine.  One  touch  of  his  heart's  blood  and  thou  art 
torn  again;  thou  art  a  child,  the  universe  is  thine,  the  stars 
thy  playthings,  and  the  sky  thy  home. — PARKER. 


LITTLE  THINGS. 


"  Who  hath  despised  the  day  of  small  things  ?" — Zach  iv:  IO. 


Let  us  be  content  to  work, 
To  do  the  thing  we  can,  and  not  presume 
To  fret  because  it's  little.     'Twill  empioy 
Seven  men,  they  say  to  make  a  perfect  pin. 
Who  makes  the  heai  ccnsents  to  leave  the  point ; 
Who  makes  the  point  agrees  to  miss  the  head ; 
And  if  a  man  should  cry,  "  I  want  a  pin, 
And  I  must  make  it  straightway  head  and  point," 
His  wisdom  is  not  worth  the  pin  he  wants. 

—MRS.  E.  B.  BROWNING. 


LITTLE   SINS    AND   BIG   SINS. 

You  will  find  many  a  merchant  who,  while  he  is  so  care- 
ful that  ho  would  not  take  a  yard  of  cloth  or  a  spool  of 
cotton  from  the  counter  without  paying  for  it,  and  who,  if 
a  bank  cashier  should  make  a  mistake  and  send  in  a  roll  of 
bills  five  dollars  too  much  would  dispatch  a  messenger  in 
hot  haste  to  return  the  surplus,  yet  who  will  go  into  a 
stock  company  in  which  after  a  while  he  gets  control  of 
the  stock,  then  waters  the  stock  and  makes  $100,000  ap- 
pear like  $200,000.  He  only  stole  $100,000  by  the  opera- 
tion. Many  of  the  men  of  fortune  made  their  wealth  in 
that  way.  One  of  those  men,  engaged  in  such  unrighteous 
acts,  that  evening,  the  evening  of  the  very  day  when  he 
watered  the  stock,  will  find  a  wharf-rat  stealing  a  Brooklyn 
E-igle  from  the  basement  doorway,  and  will  go  out  and 
catch  the  urchin  by  the  collar,  and  twist  the  collar  so 
tightly  the  fellow  can't  talk,  but  grip  the  collar  tighter  and 

180 


LITTLE  THINGS.  181 

tighter,  saying,  "I  have  been  looking  for  you  a  long 
while;  you  stole  my  paper  four  or  five  times,  didn't  you? 
you  miserable  wretch."  And  then  the  old  stock  gambler, 
with  a  voice  they  can  hear  three  blocks  away,  will  cry 
out,  "Police,  police!"  Prisons  for  sins  insectile,  but 
palaces  for  crimes  dromedarian.  No  mercy  for  sins 
animalcule  in  proportion,  but  great  leniency  for  mastodon 
iniquity.  A  poor  boy  slyly  takes  from  the  basket  of  a 
market  woman  a  choke  pear — saving  some  one  else  from 
the  cholera — and  you  smother  him  in  the  horrible  atmos- 
phere of  Raymond  street  jail,  or  New  York  Tombs,  while 
his  cousin,  who  has  been  skillful  enough  to  steal  $50,000 
from  the  city,  you  will  make  a  candidate  for  the  New  York 
Legislature. — TALMAGE. 

DANGER   OF   LITTLE   SINS. 

Be  fearful  of  little  sins.  Take  alarm  at  even  an  evil 
thought,  wish,  desire.  These  are  the  germs  of  sin — the 
floating  seeds  which  drop  into  the  heart,  and  finding  in  our 
natural  corruption  a  fat  and  favorable  soil,  spring  up  into 
actual  transgressions.  These,  like  the  rattle  of  the  snake, 
the  hiss  of  the  serpent,  reveal  the  presence  and  near  neigh- 
borhood of  danger.  The  experience  of  all  good  men  proves 
that  sin  is  most  easily  crushed  in  the  bud,  and  that  it  is 
safer  to  flee  from  temptation  than  to  fight  it. — GUTHRIE. 


POSSIBILITY   OF    LITTLE   BEGINNINGS. 

When  the  air  balloon  was  first  invented,  a  matter  of  fact 
gentleman  contemptuously  asked  Dr.  Franklin  what  was 
the  use  of  it.  The  doctor  answered  this  question  by  ask- 
ing another: — "  What  is  the  use  of  a  new-born  in/ant?" 


182  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  3EAUTY. 

0  • 

It  may  become  a  man.  This  anticipation  of  great  things 
springing  from  small  beginnings  should  induce  us  to  put 
into  practice  those  holy  promptings  which  at  certain  sea- 
sons move  our  souls.  What  if  we  ourselvt  s  and  our  work 
should  be  little  in  Zion;  cannot  the  Lord  cause  the  grandest 
issues  to  proceed  from  insignificant  beginnings? — SPUR- 
GEON. 


THIS  PRINCIPLE   IN   SOUI,   WINNING. 

Now  all  men  that  angle,  or  catch  fish  by  the  hook  and 
line,  know  that  it  is  individual  work.  It  is  one  at  a  time. 
And  when  men  so  work,  they  are  the  servants  of  the  fish. 
No  man  can  walk  out  in  lordly  boots,  and  with  admirable 
fixtures,  gold  and  silver  on  his  line,  and  say  to  the  trout, 
"Here  I  am,  come  up  here."  No  man  can  take  what  bait 
he  chooses,  and  throw  it  in,  and  then  with  reason  damn 
the  fish  because  they  do  not  bite. 

In  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  it  id  the  business  of  every 
preacher  to  preach  to  every  man  and  to  all  men.  There 
is  no  great  and  there  is  no  small  before  the  coming  of  the 
sun.  To  the  sun  all  things  are  small  and  all  things  are 
great,  and  they  all  alike  receive  beneficent  power  from  it. 
-BEECHER. 


SMALL  DEFICIENCES   OBSTACLES    TO   GRACE. 

There  was  only  a  hill  between  Israel  and  the  land  of 
promise.  Surely  the  space  being  so  small  some  concession 
will  be  made  to  Israel  \  If  God  could  concede  one  inch 
to  the  bad  man,  he  could  concede  all  heaven.  A  ship 
may  go  down  within  ten  feet  of  the  shore;  the  vessel  that 
has  come  proudly  over  the  main  may  be  wrecked  in  the 
channel.  Heaven  may  be  lost  by  an  apparently  insignificant 


LITTLE  THINGS:  183 

deficiency.  No  action  is  to  be  regarded  as  of  but  secondary 
importance.  We  cannot  regard  our  friend  six  days  out  of 
seven  and  disregard  him  on  the  seventh.  Every  moment 
of  time  is  due  to  those  with  whom  we  have  covenanted  as 
to  its  duties  and  its  remuneration. — PARKER. 


LOVE. 

"Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law." — Rom.  v: 


"I  say  to  thee,  do  thou  repeat 
To  the  first  man  thou  mayest  meet, 
That  he,  and  you,  and  all  men  move 
Under  a  canopy  of  love, 
Broad  as  the  open  sky  above." 

"Love?  I  will  tell  you  what  it  is  to  love! 
It  is  to  build  with  human  hearts  a  shrine, 
Where  hope  sits  brooding  like  a  beauteous  dove, 
Where  time  seems  young,  and  life  a  thing  divine." 

— CHARLES  SWAIN. 


LOVE   LIKE   A  FLOWER   SEED. 

Love,  in  this  world,  is  like  a  seed  taken  from  the  tropics, 
and  planted  where  the  winter  comes  too  soon;  and  it  can- 
not spread  itself  in  flower  clusters,  and  wide  twining  vines, 
so  that  the  whole  air  is  filled  with  the  perfume  thereof. 
But  there  is  to  be  another  summer  for  it  yet.  Care  for  the 
root  now,  and  God  will  care  for.  the  top  by  and  by. — 
BEECHER. 


NEED   OF   LOVE. 

Frequently  at  the  great  Roman  games,  the  emperors,  in 
order  to  gratify  the  citizens  of  Rome,  would  cause  sweet 
perfumes  to  be  rained  down  upon  them  through  the  awn- 
ing which  covered  the  amphitheatre.  Behold  the  vases, 
the  hngh  vessels  of  perfume!  Yes,  but  there  is  naught 
here  to  delight  you  so  long  as  the  jars  are  sealed;  but  let 

184 


LOVE.  185 

the  vases  be  opened,  and  be  poured  out,  and  let  the  drops 
of  perfumed  rain  begin  to  descend,  and  every  one  is 
refreshed  and  gratified  thereby.  Such  is  the  love  of  God. 
There  is  a  richness  and  a  fullness  in  it,  but  it  is  not  per- 
ceived till  the  spirit  of  God  pours  it  out  like  the  rain  of 
fragrance  over  the  heads  and  hearts  of  all  the  living  chil- 
dren of  God.  See,  then,  the  need  of  having  the  love  of 
God  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost. — SPUB- 
GEON. 


POWER   OF  LOVE. 

In  Chicago  a  few  years  ago.  there  was  a  little  boy  who 
went  to  one  of  the  mission  Sunday-schools.  His  father 
moved  to  another  part  of  the  city  about  five  miles  away, 
and  every  Sunday  that  boy  came  past  thirty  or  forty  Sun- 
day-schools to  the  one  he  attended.  And  one  Sunday  a 
lady  who  was  out  collecting  scholar*  for  a  Sunday-school 
met  him  and  asked  him  why  he  went  so  far,  past  so  many 
schools.  "  There  are  plenty  of  others,"  saidshe  ,  "  just  as 
good."  "Ah,"  he  said,  "they  may  be  just  as  good,  but 
they  are  not  so  good  for  me."  "Why  not?  "  she  asked. 
"Because  they  love  a  fellow  over  there,"  he  answered. 
Ah!  love  won  him.  "Because  they  love  a  fellow  over 
there!  "  How  easy  it  is  to  reach  people  through  love. — 
MOODY. 


GIVE   MY   LOVE  TO  JESUS. 

The  world  owes  its  love  to  Jesus.  Dear  Jesus!  Faith- 
ful Jesus!  Loving  Jesus!  What  fine  flour  was  in  that 
day  to  Samaria,  Jesus  Christ  is  to  all  who  take  him.  No 
wonder  the  little  child,  having  been  told  that  her  play- 
ma(e  was  dying,  asked  to  be  lifted  up  to  see  her.  They 


186  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

lifted  her  up,  and  she  kissed  her  dying  playmate,  and 
said,  "Clara,  give  my  love  to  Jesus"  If  Christ  were  fully 
known,  the  whole  world  would  throw  its  arm  around  his 
neck. — TALMAGE. 


SOUL-WINNING    BY  LOVE. 

A  Christian  woman  went  to  the  tract  house  in  New 
York,  and  asked  for  tracts  for  distribution.  The  first  day 
she  was  out  on  her  Christian  errand  she  saw  a  policeman 
taking  an  intoxicated  woman  to  the  station  house.  After 
the  woman  was  discharged  from  custody,  this  Christian 
tract  distributor  saw  her  coming  away  all  unkempt  and  un- 
lovely. The  tract  distributor  went  up,  threw  her  arms 
about  her  neck  and  kissed  her.  The  woman  said,  "O  my 
God,  why  do  you  kiss  me?"  "Well,"  replied  the  other, 
UI  think  Jesus  told  me  to."  "Oh  no,"  the  woman  said, 
"don't  you  kiss  me;  it  breaks  my  heart:  nobody  has 
kissed  me  since  my  mother  died."  But  that  loving,  sis- 
terly kiss  brought  her  to  Christ,  started  her  on  her  way  to 
heaven. — IBID. 


LOVE    STRONG  AS  DEATH. 

I  look  on  this  mother,  who  stands  with  her  child  on  the 
side  of  the  sinking  wreck,  to  catch  the  last  chance  of  a 
passing  boat.  She  catches  it— not  to  leap  in  herself;  but, 
lifting  her  boy  in  her  arms,  and  printing  a  mother's  last 
kisrs  upon  his  rosy  lips,  she  drops  him,  and  remains  behind 
herself  to  drown  and  die.  Or  I  look  at  that  maid  in  old 
border  story,  who,  having  caught  a  glance  of  the  arrow 
that,  shot  by  a  rival's  hand,  came  from  the  bushes  on  the 
other  bank,  flung  herself  before  her  lover,  and  received 
the  fatal  shot  in  her  own  true  and  faithful  heart  I  look 


LOVE.  187 

at  these  things,  and  seeing  that  love  is  strong  as  death,  I 
urge  you  to  cultivate  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  go  in  its 
divine  strength  to  the  field  of  duty,  and  to  the  altar  of 
sacrifice. — GUTHRIE. 


MAN. 


"  What  is  man,  that  Thou  art  mindful  of  him  ? — Psa.  viii :  4. 

Man  is  a  watch,  wound  up  at  first  but  never 
Wound  up  again:  once  down  he's  down  forever. 
The  watch  once  down,  all  motions  then  do  cease; 
And  man's  pulse  stopped,  all  passions  sleep  in  peace. 

— ROBERT  HERBICK. 


DEMAND   FOR   GOOD   MEN 

In  a  hot  summer's  day  some  years  ago,  I  was  sailing  with 
a  friend  in  a  tiny  boat,  on  a  miniature  lake,  enclosed  like  a 
cup  within  a  circle  of  steep,  bare  Scottish  hills.  On  the 
shoulder  of  the  brown  sun-burnt  mountain,  and  full  insight, 
was  a  well  with  a  crystal  stream  trickling  over  its  lip,  and 
making  its  way  down  to  the  lake.  Around  the  well's  mouth 
and  along  the  course  of  the  rivulet,  a  belt  of  green  stood  out 
in  strong  contrast  with  the  iron  surface  of  the  rocks  all 
around.  We  soon  agreed  as  to  what  should  be  made  of  it 
There  it  was,  a  legend  clearly  printed  by  the  finger  of  God 
on  the  side  of  these  silent  hills,  teaching  the  passer-by  how 
needful  a  good  man  is,  and  how  useful  he  may  be  in  a  desert 
world. — SPUEGEON. 


THE   BEST  MONUMENT. 

What  monument  is  appropriate  for  the  grave  of  a  godless 
man  I  What  for  the  resting  place  of  a  Christian  ?  It  seems 
to  me  after  I  am  dead  and  gone,  I  would  rather  have  a  mar 
come  to  my  grave  and  drop  a  tear,  and  say,  "Here  lies  the 
man  who  converted  me:  who  brought  me  to  the  cross  oi 

188 


MAN.  189 

Christ" — it  seems  to  me  I  had  rather  have  this  than  a  col- 
imn  of  pure  gold  reaching  to  the  skies,  built  in  my  honor, 
f  a  man  wants  to  be  useful,  let  him  follow  Christ. — MOODY- 


THE   WORTH   OF   MAN. 

If  the  value  of  anything  is  to  be  estimated  by  its  price, 
o  what  an  immeasurable  height  of  worth  does  it  exalt  man 
hat  God  gave  His  Son  to  redeem  him  ! — redeeming  him 
lot  with  corruptible  things  such  as  silver  and  gold,  but  with 
he  precious  blood  of  Christ;  as  of  a  lamb  without  spot  or 
ilemish.  So  far  from  cherishing  low  views  of  man,  I 
>elieve  that  a  gem  of  inestimable  value  lies  concealed  be" 
leath  the  beggar's  rags.  A  soul  is  there  of  divine-like 
acuities  and  of  priceless  worth:  and  a  body  also,  which, 
hough  the  seat  of  appetites  that  man  shares  with  brutes, 
ind  of  passions,  perhaps,  such  as  burn  in  the  breast  of  fiends, 
nay  become  more  sacred  than  any  fane  built  by  human 
lands— -a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  There  is  a  worth  in 
nan  no  meanness  of  circumstances,  no  degredation  of  char- 
icter  can  altogether  conceal.  He  is  a  jewel,  though  bur- 
ed  in  a  heap  of  corruption  ;  the  vilest  outcast,  possessing 
cowers  and  affections  that  need  only  to  be  sanctified  to  ally 
lim  with  angels,  and  make  publicans  and  harlots  fit  for 
Heaven.  — GUTHRIE. 


MAN'S   EXALTED   NATURE. 

I  look  at  man's  moral  nature.  Made  in  the  image  of 
jrod.  Vast  capacity  for  enjoyment,  capable  at  first  of  eter- 
lal  joy  and,  though  now  disordered,  still  through  the  recu- 
perative grace  of  God,  able  to  mount  up  to  more  than  its 
original  felicity:  faculties  that  may  blossom  and  bear  fruit 
nexhaustibly.  Immortality  written  on  every  capacity:  a 
>odl  destined  to  range  in  unlimited  spheres  of  activity 
ong  after  the  world  has  put  on  ashes,  and  the  solar  sj'stem 


190  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

shall  have  snapped  its  axle,  and  the  stars  that,  in  their 
courses,  fought  against  Sisera,  shall  have  been  slain,  and 
buried  amid  the  tolling  thunders  of  the  last  day. — TAL- 
MAGE. 


A  NAME   OF  POWER. 

It  makes  no  difference  what  you  call  men — prince,  peer, 
or  slave.  Man  is  that  name  of  power  which  rises  above 
them  all,  and  gives  to  every  one  the  right  to  be  that  which 
God  meant  he  should  be.  No  law  nor  custom,  nor  opinion, 
nor  prejudice  has  the  right  to  say  to  one  man,  "You  may 
grow,"  and  to  another,  "You  may  not  grow,"  or, You  may 
grow  in  ten  directions,  and  not  in  twenty;"  or  to  the  strong, 
"You  may  grow  stronger,"  or  to  the  weak,  "You  may 
never  become  strong."  Launched  upon  the  ocean  of  life, 
like  an  innumerable  fleet,  each  man  may  spread  what  sails 
God  has  given  him,  whether  he  be  pinnace,  sloop,  brig, 
bark,  ship,  or  man  of  war;  and  no  commodore  or  admiral 
may  signal  what  voyage  he  shall  make  or  what  canvas  he 
shall  carry. — BEECHER. 


THE   PRIMEVAL  MAN. 

"God  made  man  in  His  image."  There  is  surely  no 
bolder  sentence  in  all  human  speech.  It  takes  an  infinite 
liberty  with  God!  It  is  blasphemy  if  it  is  not  truth.  AVe 
have  been  accustomed  to  look  at  the  statement  so  much 
from  the  human  standpoint,  that  we  have  forgotten  how 
•  let-ply  the  Divine  character  is  implicated.  To  tell  us  that 
all  the  sign-boards  of  Italy  were  painted  by  Raphael  is 
simply  to  dishonor  and  bitterly  humiliate  the  great  artist. 
We  would  resent  the  suggestion  that  Beethoven  or  Handel 
is  the  author  of  all  the  noise  that  goes  under  the  name  of 
music.  Yet  we  say  God  made  man.  Look  at  man,  and 
then  repeat  the  audacity  if  you  dare!  Lying,  drunken, 


MAN.  191 

selfish  man;  plotting,  scheming,  cruel  man;  foolish,  vain, 
babbling  man;  prodigal  man,  wandering  in  wildernesses 
in  search  of  the  impossible,  sneaking   in   forbidden  places 
with  the  crouch  of  a  criminal,  putting  his  finger  into  hu- 
man blood  and  musing  as  to  its  probable  price  per  gallon — 
did  God  make  maril  Verily  then,  a  strange  image  is  God's! 
Leering,  gibing,  mocking  image;  a  painted  mask;  a  vigor 
meant  to  deceive.     See  where  cunning  works  in  its  own 
well-managed  wrinkle — see  how  cold  selfishness  puts  out 
the  genial  warmth  of  eyes  that  should  have  beamed  with 
kindness;  hear  how  mean  motives  have  taken  the  music 
out  of  voices  that  should  have  expressed  more  truthful 
frankness;  then  look  at  the  body,  misshapen,  defiled,  de- 
graded, rheum  in  every  joint,  specks  of  corruption  in  the 
warm  currents  of  the  blood,  leprosy  making  the  skin  loath- 
some, the  whole  body  tottering  under  the  burden  of  the 
invisible,  but  inseparable  companionship  of  death!     Is  this 
the    image,    is  this  the  likeness  of  God?     Or  take  man 
at  his  best  estate5— what  is  he  but  a  temporary  success  in 
art,  clothier's  art,  schoolmaster's  art,  fashion's   art?     He 
cannot  see  into  to-morrow;  he  imperfectly  remembers  what 
happened  yesterday;  he  is  crammed  for  the  occasion,  made 
great  for  the  little  battle,  careful  about  the  night  air,  dainty 
as  to  his  digestion,  sensitive  to  praise  or  blame,  preaching 
gospels  and  living  blasphemies,  praying  with  forced  words, 
whilst  his  truant  mind  is  uneasy  in  the  thick  of  markets, 
or  the  complicity  of  contending  interests.      Is  this  the 
image  of  God?     Is  this  incarnate  Deity?   Oh,  how  we  burn 
under  the  sharp  questioning!     Yet  there  are   the   facts. 
There  are  the  men  themselves.     Write  on  the  low  brow— 
"th&  image  and  likeness  of  God;"  write  on  the  idiot's  leer- 
ing face — "the  image  and  likeness  of  God;"  write  on  the 
sensualist's  porcine  face — the  image  and  likeness  of  God;" 
do  this;  and  then  say  how  infinite  is  the  mockery,  how  in- 


192  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

finite  the  lie!  Yet  here  is  the  text.  Here  is  the  distinct 
assurance  that  God  created  man  in  His  own  image.  This 
is  enough  to  ruin  the  Bible.  This  is  enough  to  dethrone 
God.  Within  narrow  limits  any  man  would  be  justified 
in  saying,  "If  man  is  made  in  the  image  of  God,  I  will  not 
worship  a  God  who  bears  such  an  image." 

What  is  to  be  done?  We  are  driven  back  upon  our- 
selres — not  ourselves  as  outwardly  seen,  but  our  inner 
selves,  the  secret  of  our  soul's  reality. 

Aye;  we  are  now  nearing  the  point.  We  have  not  been 
talking  about  the  right  man  at  all.  The  man  is  within 
the  man;  the  man  is  not  any  one  man;  the  man  is  Hu 
manity.  We  have  never  seen  the  true  man;  he  has  been 
seen  only  by  his  Maker.  As  to  temper  and  action,  we  are 
all  bankrupts  and  criminals.  But  the  manis  greater  than 
the  sin.  When  I  see  the  sinner  run  into  sin,  I  feel  as  if  he 
might  have  been  made  by  the  devil,  but  when  he  stands 
still  and  bethinks  himself;  when  the  hot  tears  fill  his  eyes; 
when  he  sighs  toward  heaven  a  sigh  of  bitterness  and  true 
penitence,  when  he  falls  down  to  pray  without  words;  then 
I  see  a  dim  outline  of  the  image  and  likeness  in  which  he 
was  created.  In  that  solemn  hour  I  begin  to  see  man — the 
man  that  accounts  for  the  Cross,  the  man  who  brought 
down  Christ. — PARKER. 


MARRIAGE. 


"  Marriage  is  honorable  in  all." — Heb.  xiii:  4*     "  What  there- 
fore  God  has  joined  together,  let  no  man  put  asunder" — Matt. 
:  4- 


Crabbed  age  and  youth 

Cannot  live  together; 
Youth  is  full  of  pleasance 

Age  is  full  of  care; 
Youth  like  summer  morn, 

Age  like  winter  weather; 
Youth  like  summer  brave, 

Age  like  winter  bare, 
Youth  is  full  of  sport, 
Age's  breath  is  short. 

— SHAKESPEARE. 


Marriage  is  the  golden  chain 

That  binds  two  hearts  together 
For  pleasure  or  for  pain, 

For  storm  or  pleasant  weather. 

— CHAS.  BENJ.  MANLY 


JOY   AT  A  WEDDING. 

If  the  hard  brow  ever  relaxes,  it  is  at  a  wedding.  The 
nature  cold  and  unsympathetic  thaws  out  under  the  glow, 
and  the  tears  start  as  we  hear  the  bride's  dress  rustling 
down  the  stairs  and  the  company  stands  back,  and  we  hear 
in  the  timid  "  I  will"  of  the  twain,  the  sound  of  a  lifetime's 
hopes  and  joys  and  sorrows.  We  look  steadily  at  them, 
but  thrice  at  her  to  once  at  him,  and  say,  "  God  bless  her, 

193 


194  GEMS  OF  TRU'iH AND  BEAUTY. 

how  well  she"  looks!  "  We  cry  at  weddings,  but  not  bitter 
tears;  for  when  the  heart  is  stirred,  and  smiles  are  insipid, 
and  the  laughter  is  tame,  the  heart  writes  out  its  joy  on  the 
cheek  in  letters  of  crystal.  Put  on  the  ring!  Let  it  ever 
be  bright,  and  the  round  finger  it  encloses  never  be 
shrunken  with  sorrow. — TALMAGE. 


UNHAPPY     MARRIAGES. 

Marriages  are  said  to  be  made  in  heaven.  No,  oh  no! 
There  may  be  a  world  of  difference  between  the  two  who 
are  joined  together;  and  marriage  is  a  sphere  for  heroism 
on  that  very  account.  What  tragedies!  What  wondrous 
lives!  The  story  of  "Daniel  in  the  lion's  den,  and  of  the 
four  in  the  burning  furnace,  are  typical  of  the  angelic  vir- 
tues that  are  found  in  women  that  walk  in  the  very  midst 
of  hell  for  years  and  lives.  I  cannot  conceive  of  any  life 
so  horrible  as  that  of  a  pure,  high-minded  woman,  a  virtu- 
ous and  aspiring  soul,  allied  to  trickery,  to  lying,  to  all 
lecherous  vices,  to  drunkenness  and  the  worst  forms  of  ani- 
malism. To  sleep  with  swine,  to  nestle  with  serpents,  to 
be  with  loathsome  insects  that  gnaw  and  sting,  is  bad 
enough;  but  to  be  with  them  altogether  in  the  shape  of  a 
man  is  hideous  beyond  conception.  Dante,  in  his  vision, 
never  saw  anything  worse  than  that  which  exists  in  some 
married  lives. — BEECHER. 


"UNEQUALLY  YOKED  TOGETHER." 

I  do  not  believe  a  Christian  man  has  a  right  to  marry 
any  unconverted  woman.  I  do  not  believe  any  Christain 
woman  has  a  right  to  marry  an  unconverted  man.  I 
imagine  you  will  laugh  about  it  and  ridicule  the  whole 
idea,  but  here  is  the  word  of  God  for  it.  "Be  ye  not 
unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers."  "Where- 


MARRIAGE.  195 

fore  come  out  from  among  them  and  be  ye  separate. "  Now 
I  never  knew  any  one  to  go  against  the  Bible  that  did 
riot  suffer  for  it.  Let  him  that  takes  off  the  harness  laugh, 
not  him  that  puts  it  on.  It  is  not  for  you,  young  people, 
that  have  not  seen  as  much  of  life  and  the  world  as  some 
others,  to  say  that  you  can  go  right  on  and  dispute  this 
thing.  You  can  see  it  is  plain.  There  is  not  a  mother 
here  that  would  not  feel  badly  to  have  her  daughter  marry 
a  man  that  could  not  bear  her,  but  would  only  make  her 
wretched  and  abuse  her.  There  is  no  father  here  who 
would  not  be  made  miserable  by  such  a  possibility.  Do 
you  suppose  that  God  does  not  feel  it  to  have  His  sons  and 
daughters  marry  unregenerate  and  unconverted  persons 
who  hate  Him,  doubt  Him,  and  misrepresent  Him. — 
MOODY. 

A  TENDER  TIE. 

In  looking  back  to  the  first  marriage,  I  cannot  but  think 
that  it  was  to  make  its  tie  more  tender  that  God  chose  the 
singular  plan  he  pursued  in  providing  the  man  with  a  mate. 
No  other  way  would  have  occurred  to  our  fancy  of  making 
woman,  than  that  of  another  clay  figure,  modeled  by  God's 
hands  in  the  female  form,  and  inspired  by  His  breath  with 
lifeT  In  making  her  out  of  Adam,  and  from  the  part  of 
his  body  lying  nearest  the  heart,  while  he  lay  in  the  mys- 
terious sleep  from  which  he  awoke  to  gaze  on  a  beautiful 
form  reposing  by  his  side,  God  gave  a  peculiar  emphasis 
and  power  to  the  figure,  k'  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh," 
one  in  sympathy,  in  mind,  in  affections,  and  in  interests; 
nothing  but  death  afterward  to  divide  them. — GUTHBIE. 


MISSIONS. 


'•  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  crea~ 
ture" — Mark  xvi:  1. 


Where  is  your  heathen  brother?    From  his  grave 

Near  thy  own  gates,  or  'neath  a  foreign  sky, 
From  the  thronged  depths  of  ocean's  mourning  wave, 

His  answering  blood  reproachfully  doth  cry: 
Blood  of  the  soul !    Can  all  earth's  fountains  make 
Thy  dark  stain  disappear?    Stewards  of  God,  awake. 

—MRS.  SlGOURNEY. 


OUR   FIELD,    THE   WORLD. 

The  mission  spirit  has  now  gained  such  momentum  and 
rapidity,  that  we  can  now  go  through  a  revolution,  chang- 
ing public  sentiment  from  selfishness  to  benevolence,  in 
twenty-five  or  thirty  years.  We  know  that  the  influence 
of  Ca)vary  can  never  die.  I  may  die  in  the  wilderness, 
and  you  may  die  on  the  sea;  but  the  road  to  heaven  is  as 
short  from  India  as  it  is  from  Indiana,  and  when  onc*e  in 
heaven  we  shall  see  a  much  better  sight  than  Moses  saw 
from  the  top  of  Pisgah,  and  everyone  may  gaze  on  it  who 
has  done  one  jot  or  one  tittle  to  advance  the  work.  Whis- 
per it  then  into  the  ears  of  your  children,  that  "the  field 
is  the  world!"  Ye  who  are  bringing  up  your  own  flesh 
and  blood  to  delight  in  dress,  in  worldly  aggrandizement, 
in  wealth,  in  ambition,  in  honor,  have  you  not  seen  what 
the  Lord  is  doing?  Have  you  not  seen  that  his  service  is 
becoming  the  path  to  honor  ?  That  working  for  the  world 

196 


MISSIONS.  197 

is  the  shortest  road  to  promotion  in  our  day  ?  Teach  your 
children  to  give  up  their  soul  and  body  and  strength  to 
their  Master's  service.  Thus  shall  they  be  nearer  to  God, 
and  God  to  them.  We  must  not  live  for  ourselves,  but 
for  others. — BEECHER. 


AN  EARNEST  PLEA. 

If  there  were  but  one  man  in  Siberia  unsaved,  and  all 
the  world  were  saved  besides,  if  God  should  move  our 
minds,  it  would  be  worth  while  for  all  the  people  in  Eng- 
land to  go  after  that  one  soul.  Did  you  ever  think  of  the 
value  of  a  soul?  Ah!  ye  have  not  heard  the  howls  and 
yells  of  hell;  ye  have  not  heard  the  mighty  songs  and 
hosannas  of  the  glorified;  ye  have  no  notion  of  what  eter- 
nity is,  or  else  ye  would  know  the  value  of  a  soul. 

Permit  me,  with  all  earnestness,  to  plead  with  you,  on 
behalf  of  Christ,  and  Christ's  holy  gospel,  that  you  would 
stir  yourselves  up  to  renewed  efforts  for  the  spread  of  His 
truth,  and  to  more  earnest  prayers  that  His  kingdom  may 
come.  Ah!  could  I  show  you  the  tens  of  thousands  of 
spirits  who  are  now  walking  in  outeB  darkness;  could  I 
take  you  to  the  gloomy  chamber  of  hell,  and  show  you 
myriads  upon  myriads  of  souls  in  unutterable  torture,  me- 
thinks  you  could  ask  yourselves:  "Did  I  do  anything  to 
save  these  unhappy  myriads?"  They  have  been  damned, 
and  are  you  clear  of  their  blood  ?  "If  the  watchman  warn 
them  not,  they  shall  perish,  but  their  blood  will  He  re- 
quire at  the  watchman's  hands." — SPURGEON. 


"UNTO  EVERY   CREATURE." 

I  can  imagine  Peter  saying,  "  Lord,  do  you  really  mean 
that  we  shall  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature  ?  "  "  Yes, 
Peter."  "  Shall  we  go  back  to  Jerusalem  and  preach  the 


198  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

gospel  to  those  sinners  who  murdered  you  ? "  "Yes,  Peter, 
go  back  and  tarry  there  until  you  are  endued  with  power 
from  on  high.  Offer  the  gospel  to  them  first.  Go  search 
out  that  man  who  spat  in  my  face;  tell  him  I  forgive  him; 
there  is  nothing  in  my  heart  but  love  for  him.  Go,  search 
out  that  man  who  put  the  cruel  crown  of  thorns  on  my 
brow;  tell  him  I  will  have  a  crown  ready  for  him  in  my 
kingdom,  if  he  will  accept  salvation;  there  shall  not  be  a 
thorn  in  it,  and  he  shall  wear  it  forever  and  ever  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  Find  out  that  man  who  took  the 
reod  from  my  hand,  and  smote  my  head,  driving  the 
thorns  deeper  into  my  brow.  If  he  will  accept  salvation 
as  a  gift,  I  will  give  him  a  sceptre,  and  he  shall  sway  it  as 
a  king.  Go,  seek  out  that  man  who  struck  me  with  the 
palm  of  his  hand;  find  him,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  him; 
tell  him  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  was  shed  for  all 
men,  and  even  for  him,  if  he  accepts  it."  Yes,  I  can  im- 
agine him  saying,  "Go,  seek  out  that  poor  soldier  who 
drove  the  spear  into  my  side;  tell  him  that  there  is  a  nearer 
way  to  my  heart  than  that.  Tell  him  that  I  forgive  him 
freely;  and  tell  him  that  I  will  make  him  a  soldier  of  the 
cross,  and  my  banner  over  him  shall  be  love." 

I  thank  God  that  the  gospel  is  to  be  preached  to  every 
creature.  Rich  and  poor,  great  and  small,  king  and  peas- 
ant, alike  are  welcome. — MOODY. 


UNIVERSAL  FRATERNITY. 

I  am  bound  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  for 
all  men  are  my  brothers.  The  ignorant  black  man  is  my 
brother.  His  skin,  to  be  sure,  may  have  a  different  hue 
from  mine;  bred  for  the  market,  he  may  be  bought  and 
sold  like  a  cattle-beast;  he  may  be  marked  with  the  brand, 
loaded  with  the  fetters,  lashed  with  the  whip,  crushed  with 


MISSIONS.  199 

the  sufferings  of  a  slave;  but  he  is  my  brother,  and  if  he 
lift  his  manacled  hands  and  streaming  eyes  to  that  heaven 
where  bondsmen  are  free,  and,  robed  and  throned,  they 
stand  before  Him,  and  share  in  the  glory  of  His  Son,  slave 
though  he  be,  sold  though  he  be,  trodden  in  the  dust 
though  he  be,  he  may  be  my  saved  brother.  With  the 
same  God  for  our  Father,  the  same  Savior  for  our  Elder 
Brother,  the  same  Spirit  for  our  heavenly  Comforter,  one 
cross  for  the  anchor  of  our  hope,  one  Bible  for  our  guide- 
book, one  heaven  for  our  everlasting  home,  the  gospel 
tells  me  to  knock  off  my  brother's  fetters — to  loose  them, 
and  let  them  free. — GUTHRIE. 


THE   MISSIONARY   OUTLOOK. 

Why,  the  earth  is  like  an  old  castle  with  twenty  gates 
and  a  park  of  artillery  ready  to  thunder  down  every  gate. 
Lay  aside  all  Christendom,  and  see  how  all  heathendom  is 
being  surrounded  and  honey-combed  and  attacked  by  this 
all-conquering  gospel.  At  the  beginning  of  this  century 
there  were  only  150  missionaries;  now  there  arc  25,000 
missionaries  and  native  helpers  and  evangelists.  At  the 
beginning  of  this  century  there  were  only  50,000  heathen 
converts;  now  there  are  1,650,000  converts  from  heathen- 
dom. There  is  not  a  sea-coast  on  the  planet  but  the  bat- 
tery of  the  gospel  is  planted,  and  ready  to  march  on, 
north,  south,  east,  west.  You  all  know  that  the  chief 
work  of  an  army  is  to  plant  the  batteries,  and  they  may  do 
all  the  work  in  ten  minutes.  These  batteries  are  being 
planted  in  all  nations.  It  may  take  a  good  while  to  plant 
them,  but  they  may  do  all  their  work  in  a  little  while. 
They  will.  Nations  are  to  be  born  in  a  day.  Hosts  of 
the  living  God,  march  on,  march  on!  The  sky  is  bright- 
ening in  every  direction.  I  am  glad  for  the  boy  and  girl 


200  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

five  years  old:  I  think  they  may  see  the  millennium.  All 
nations  will  yet  salute  the  flag  of  Prince  Immanuel.  To 
Him  be  glory  in  the  church,  throughout  all  ages. — TAL- 
MAGE. 


MOTHER. 


"As  one  whom  his  mother  comforteth" — Isaiah  Ixvi: 

Such  beautiful,  beautiful  hands, 

They're  neither  white  nor  small, 
And  you,  I  know,  would  scarcely  think 

That  they  were  fair  at  all. 
I've  looked  on  hands  whose  form  and  hue. 

A  sculptor's  dream  might  be, 
Yet  are  my  mother's  wrinkled  hands 

More  beautiful  to  me. 

And  oh,  beyond  this  shadow  land. 

Where  all  is  bright  and  fair, 
I  know  full  well  those  dear  old  hands 

Shall  palms  of  victory  bear. 
Where  crystal  streams  through  endless  years 

Flow  over  golden  sands, 
There,  where  the  old  grow  young  again, 

I'll  clasp  my  mother's  hands. 


A    SACRED    NAME. 

More -and  more  as  we  grow,  we  appreciate  the  finer  traits 
of  human  nature.  Men  going  out  into  life  never  forget 
the  mother  who  stays  at  home,  and  who  has  presented  to 
them  a  nature  with  reason  dominant,  with  a  high  moral 
sense,  with  refined  and  sweet  affections,  with  taste,  with 
patience,  with  gentleness,  with  self-sacrifice,  and  with  dis- 
interestedness. A  man  may  go  through  all  the  world;  he 
may  become  a  pirate,  if  you  please;  he  may  run  through 
every  stage  of  belief  and  unbelief;  he  may  become  abso- 
lutely apostate;  he  may  rub  out  his  conscience;  he  may  de- 

301 


202  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

stroy  his  fineness  in  every  respect;  but  there  will  be  one 
picture  which  he  cannot  efface      Living  or  dying  there  will 
before  him,  like  a  morning  star,  the  beauty  of  that  re- 
membered goodness  which  he  called  mother. 

There  are  men  who  are  so  cynical  that  they  swear  the 
whole  race  to  hell;  but  they  always  spare  some  one  person- 
wit  e,  or  sister,  or  mother.  There  is  a  single  character  that 
survives  annihilation  in  their  thoughts.  There  is  nothing 
that  takes  hold  of  a  man's  very  being  so  much  as  a  nature 
that  seems  to  be  well  nigh  perfect. — BEECHER. 

A   SUGGESTIVE    NAME. 

When  one  speaks  the  name  of  my  mother,  and  says  to 
me,  ' '  Roxana, "  it  is  no  Greek  that  I  think  of ;  it  is  she  that 
\vsis  a  Connecticut  woman,  bred  in  an  obscure  neighbor- 
hood, quiet  and  retiring,  but  full  of  deep  pondering  of 
things  beyond  her  age,  and  of  a  heart  rich  and  rare.  And 
is  there  a  person  who  has  not  a  name — somebody's  name — 
which,  when  he  hears  it,  distils  a  sweet  influence  upon  his 
imagination,  or  rains  down  joyful  emotive  feelings  on  his 
heart?  Names?  They  are  wonder-workers.  A  single 
name  will  send  fire  through  twenty  thousand  men.  A 
name  <  When  the  united  armies  of  the  North  returned 
from  the  sad  but  necessary  war  with  the  South ,  and  marched 
through  Washington,  and  Sherman's  name  was  sounded  in 
their  ear,  what  a  heaven-rending  shout  went  up  !  Just  one 
word  was  uttered,  but  what  an  effect  it  produced  ! — IBID. 


MOTHER'S  COMFOBT. 

An  aged  mother  is  almost  omnipotent  in  comfort.  Why? 
At  seventy  years  of  age  she  has  been  through  it  all.  At 
seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  she  goes  over  to  comfort  a 
young  mother  who  has  just  lost  her  babe.  Grandmother 


MOTHER.  203 

knows  all  about  that  trouble.  Fifty  years  ago  she  felt  it. 
At  twelve  o'clock  of  that  day  she  goes  over  to  comfort  a 
widowed  soul.  She  knows  all  about  that  She  has  been 
walking  in  that  valley  of  shadow  twenty  years.  At  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  some  one  knocks  at  the  door  want- 
ing bread.  She  knows  all  about  that.  Two  or  three  times 
in  her  life  she  came  to  her  last  loaf.  At  ten  o'clock  that 
night  she  goes  over  to  sit  up  with  some  one  who  is  severely 
sick.  She  knows  all  about  it.  She  knows  all  about  fevers, 
and  pleurisies,  and  broken  bones.  She  has  been  doctoring 
all  her  life,  spreading  plasters,  and  pouring  out  bitter  drops, 
and  shaking  up  hot  pillows  and  contriving  things  to  tempt 
a  poor  appetite.  Doctors  Abernethy,  Rush,  Hosack  and 
Harvey  were  great  doctors,  but  the  greatest  doctor  the 
world  ever  saw  was  a  Christian  mother.  Dear  me  !  Do 
we  not  remember  her  about  the  room,  when  we  were  sick 
in  our  boyhood?  Was  there  any  one  who  could  so  touch 
a  sore  without  hurting  it  ?  And  when  she  lifted  her  spec- 
tacles against  her  wrinkled  forehead,  so  she  could  look 
closer  at  the  wound,  it  was  three-fourths  healed.  And 
when  the  Lord  took  her  home,  although  you  may  have 
been  men  and  women  thirty,  forty,  fifty  years  of  age,  you 
lay  on  the  coffin-lid  and  sobbed  as  though  you  were  only 
five  or  ten  years  of  age.  O  man,  praise  God,  if,  instead  of 
looking  back  to  one  of  those  berouged  and  bespangled 
old  people,  fixed  up  of  the  devil  to  look  young,  you  have 
in  your  memory  the  picture  of  an  honest,  sympathetic, 
kind,  self-sacrificing,  Christ-like  mother. — TALMAGE. 

MOTHER'S  FORGIVENESS. 

An  Englishman  told  me  a  story  once  which  may  serve 
to  illustrate  how  God  forgives.  There  was  a  boy  a  good 
many  years  ago,  stolen  in  London,  the  same  as  Charley 


204  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

Ross  was  stolen  h:re.  Long  months  and  years  passed 
away,  and  the  mot-icr  prayed  and  prayed  as  that  mother  of 
Charley  Ross  has  prayed,  I  suppose,  and  all  her  efforts  had 
failed,  and  they  had  given  up  all  hope;  but  the  mother  did 
not  quite  give  up  all  her  hope.  One  day  a  boy  was  sent 
up  into  the  neighboring  house  to  sweep  the  chimney,  and 
by  some  mistake  he  got  down  through  the  wrong  chimney. 
He  came  down  through  the  sitting  room  chimney  of  that 
house.  His  memory  began  at  once  to  travel  back  through 
the  years  that  had  passed.  He  thought  that  things  looked 
strangely  familiar.  The  scenes  of  his  early  childhood  were 
dawning  upon  him;  and  as  he  stood  there  surveying  the 
place,  his  mother  came  into  the  room.  He  stood  there  cov- 
ered with  rags  and  soot  Did  she  wait  till  she  had  sent 
him  to  be  washed  before  she  took  him  in  her  arms  ?  No, 
indeed;  it  was  her  own  boy.  She  took  him  to  her  arms, 
all  black  and  smoke,  and  hugged  him  to  her  bosom,  and 
shed  tears  of  grateful  joy  upon  his  head.  Such  is  God's 
love  for  the  sinner.  He  will  forgive,  and  receive  him  to 
Himself. 


OLD   AGE. 


"When  I  am  old  and  grey-headed,  O  God,  forsake  me  not." 
Psa.  Ixxii:  18. 


Eye  hath  not  seen,  tongue  hath  not  told, 

And  ear  hath  not  heard  it  sung, 
How  buoyant  and  bold, 
Though  it  seem  to  grow  old, 

Is  the  heart,  forever  young; 
Forever  young — though  life's  old  age 

Hath  every  nerve  unstrung ; 
The  heart,  the  heart  is  a  heritage 

That  keeps  the  old  man  young. 

— M.  P.  TUPPER. 


VICE   IN   OLD  AGE. 

According  to  ^Esop,  an  old  woman  found  an  empty  jar 
which  had  lately  been  full  of  prime  old  wine,  and  which 
still  retained  the  fragrant  smell  of  its  former  contents.  She 
greedily  placed  it  several  times  to  her  nose,  and  drawing 
it  backwards  and  forwards  said,  "Oh,  most  delicious! 
How  nice  must  the  wine  itself  have  been,  when  it  leaves 
behind  in  the  very  vessel  which  contained  it  so  sweet  a 
perfume." 

Men  often  hug  their  vices  when  their  power  to  enjoy 
them  is  gone.  The  memories  of  reveling  and  wantonness 
appear  to  be  sweet  to  the  ungodly  in  their  old  age.  They 
sniff  the  empty  bottles  of  their  follies,  and  only  wish  they 
could  again  be  drunken  with  them.  Old  age  cures  not  the 

205 


206  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

evil  heart,  but  exhibits  in  a  ridiculous  but  deeply  painful 
light  the  indelible  perversity  of  human  nature. — SPUR- 

GEON. 


GROWING  OLD  UNCONSCIOUSLY. 

Old    age    comes  on  almost  imperceptibly  though  the 
young,   perhaps  will  hardly  credit  it.    Men  with   furrows 
in  their  brow,  and  gray  hairs  on  their  head,  often  find  it 
difficult  to  remember  that  they  are  old;  to  believe  it,  to 
realize  the  approach  of  their  end;  how  near  they  are  to  the 
grave.     Death  seems  to  flee  before  us  like  the  horizon 
which  we  ever  see,  and  never  reach.  The  river  that  springs 
like  an  arrow  from  its  rocky  cradle,  to  bound  from  crag 
to  crag,   to  rush  brawling  through   the  glen,    and,    like 
thoughtless  youth,  to  waste  its  strength  in  mere  noise,  and 
froth  and  foam,  flows  on  smoothly,  slowly,  almost  imper- 
ceptibly as  it  approaches  its  grave  in  the  bosom  of  the  sea. 
And  so  it  is  often  with  man.     The  nearer  we  draw  to  our 
end,  through  a  natural  callousness  or  otherwise,  the  less 
sensible  we  grow  to  the  evils  and  approach  of  age.     And 
when  a  man  has  not  left  his  peace  with  God  to  seek  in  old 
his  greatest  work  to  a  time  when  he  is  least  fit  to  do 
it,  it  is  a  most  blessed  thing  that  old  age  does  not  make  our 
lit -arts  old,  or  benumb  our  feelings — that  gray  hairs  are  on 
us,  and  we  know  it  not. — GUTHRIE. 


SAD  OLD   AGE. 

It  is  dismal  to  get  old,  without  the  rejuvenating  influ- 
ence of  religion.  When  we  step  on  the  down  grade  of 
life,  and  see  that  it  dips  in  the  verge  of  the  cold  river,  we 


OLD  AGE.  207 

want  to  behold  some  one  near  who  will  help  us  across. 
When  the  sight  loses  its  power,  we  need  that  faith  that  can 
illumine.  When  we  feel  the  failure  of  the  ear,  we  need  the 
clear  tones  of  the  divine  voice.  When  the  axe-men  of 
death  hew  down  whole  forests  of  strength  and  beauty 
around  us,  and  we  are  left  in  solitude,  we  need  the  dove 
to  simr  in  our  branches. — TALMAGE. 


REJOICING    IN   OLD   AGE. 

Look  at  old  age!  A  friend  said  to  me,  a  lady,  "I  hate 
old  age,''  and  there  was  a  vehemency  in  it  that  left  me  no 
doubt  as  to  the  sincerity  of  the  expression.  A  young  friend 
wrote  to  me,  "I  can't  bear  to  think  that  I  am  growing 
old."  Such  have  no  horizon.  They  have  no  foresight,  I 
am  growing  old.  Do  I  not  know  it?  Do  I  not  rejoice  in 
it?  I  have  had  my  life;  I  have  had  my  opportunities;  and 
I  thank  God  for  such  as  it  has  been.  I  thank  God  that  my 
eye  grows  dim.  I  thank  God  that  my  steps  are  not  so 
alert  as  once  they  were.  Why  should  men  mourn  that 
beauty  which  must  fade  before  the  glorious  beauty  of  holi- 
ness settles  upon  them  forever. 

When  I  see  in  the  spring  the  trees  full  of  bud,  and  ready 
to  bloom  in  the  orchard,  I  hear  complaint  from  the  outside 
green  coating  of  the  bud,  that  has  wrapped  it  up  like  an 
overcoat,  and  has  carried  it  through  the  winter.  As  the 
balmy  atmosphere  begins  to  expand  the  bud,  I  hear  the 
sepal  mourn  and  siv:  k-AIas,  alas!  I  am  being  expelled 
rnd  pushed  down,  the  hinges  are  breaking  off;  I  have  got 
to  drop."1  And  go  it  does  in  some  high  wind;  but  it  goes 
in  order  that  the  blossom  may  live.  Then  after  a  little 
while,  I  hear  the  blossom  say,  u I  must  fall;"  and  fall  it 


208  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

does  to  the  ground,  in  order  that  the  fruit  may  spring 
forth.  Now,  when  men  mourn  because  they  are  losing 
this  faculty,  and  that  faculty,  they  forget  that  they  are 
failing  here,  in  order  that  glorious  virtues  and  perfect 
holiness  may  emerge  to  ripen  forever  in  heaven. — 
BEECHER. 


PATIENCE. 


•'  In  your  patience  possess  ye  your  souls."" — Luke  xxi:  19. 

Be  patient,  oh,  be  patient!  put  your  ear  against  the  earth, 

And  listen  there  how  noiselessly  the  germ  of  the  seed  has  birth ; 

How  noiselessly  and  gently  it  upheaves  its  little  way, 

Till  it  parts  ihe  scarcely  broken  ground  and  the  blade  stands  up  in  day. 

Be  patient,  oh,  be  patient!  the  germs  of  mighty  thought 

Must  have  their  silent  undergrowth,    must  underground  be  wrought; 

But  as  sure  as  there's  a  power  that  makes  the  grass  appear, 

Our  land  shall  be  green  with  freedom,  the  blade-time  shall  be  here. 


IMPATIENCE   REBUKED. 

I  remember  a  few  years  ago  I  got  discouraged  and  could 
not  see  much  fruit  of  my  work;  and  one  morning,  as  I  was 
in  my  study,  cast  down,  one  of  my  Sabbath-school  teach- 
ers came  in  and  wanted  to  know  what  I  was  discouraged 
about,  and  I  told  him,  because  I  could  see  no  result  from 
my  work;  and,  by  and  by,  speaking  about  Noah,  he  said: 
"By  the  way,  did  you  ever  study  up  the  character  of 
Noah?  "  I  felt  that  I  knew  all  about  that,  and  told  him 
that  I  was  familiar  with  it,  and  he  said,  "Now,  if  you 
never  studied  that  carefully,  you  ought  to  do  it,  for  I  can- 
not tell  you  what  a  blessing  it  has  been  to  me."  When  he 
went  out  I  took  down  my  Bible,  and  began  to  read  about 
Noah,  and  the  thought  came  stealing  over  me,  "Here  is  a 
man  who  toiled  and  worked  a  hundred  years  and  didn't 
get  discouraged;  or  if  he  did,  the  Holy  Ghost  didnlt  put 
it  on  record;  and  the  clouds  lifted,  and  I  got  up  and  said, 
"  If  the  Lord  wants  me  to  work  without  any  fruit,  I  will 

209 


210  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

work  on.     I  will  do  the  best  I  can  and  leave  the  result 
with  God.  I  will  wait  patiently  upon  the  Lord." — MOODY. 


A  PATIENT  GOD. 

Our  God  is  a  God  of  patience — patience  long  continued 
but  not  everlasting.  Swift  fly  the  wings  of  mercy,  slow 
goes  the  hand  of  justice;  like  the  shadow  on  the  sun-dial, 
ever  moving,  yet  creeping  slowly  on,  with  a  motion  all  but 
imperceptible.  Still  let  sinners  stand  in  awe.  The  hand 
of  justice  has  not  stopped,  although  imperceptibly,  it 
steadily  advances,  by  and  by  having  reached  the  tenth, 
eleventh,  twelfth  hour,  the  bell  strikes.  Then,  unless  you 
soon  flee  to  Christ,  the  blow  which  was  so  slow  to  fall  shall 
descend  on  the  head  of  impenitence  with  accumulated 
force.  Let  ;t  never  be  forgotten,  that  although  God's 
patience  is  lasting,  it  is  not  everlasting. — GUTHRIE. 

MORE   PATIENCE. 

What  we  all  need  is  patience.  Before  we  start  off  for  the 
store  we  ought  to  pray  for  patience.  We  will  be  harrassed 
and  perplexed.  Men  will  wrong  us,  and  impose  upon  us, 
and  cheat  us;  and  before  the  day  is  passed,  if  you  have  not 
laid  in  a  large  supply  of  patience,  you  will  half  swear  with 
your  lips,  and  perhaps  make  a  whole  swear  with  your 
hearts. — TALMAGE. 

THE  TEACHING  OF  THE  LEAVES. 

O  impatient  ones!  Did  the  leaves  say  nothing  to  you  as 
(hey  murmured,  when  you  came  hither  to-day?  They  were 
not  created  this  spring,  but  months  ago;  and  the  summer 
just  begun  will  fashion  others  for  another  year.  At  the 
bottom  of  every  leaf  stem  is  a  cradle,  and  in  it  is  an  infant 
germ;  and  the  winds  will  rock  it,  and  the  birds  will  sing 


PATIENCE.  211 

to  it  all  summer  long,  and  next  season  it  will  unfold.  So 
God  is  working  for  you,  and  carrying  forward  to  the  per- 
fect development  all  the  processes  of  your  lives.— 
BEECHER. 

PATIENCE  IN  SMALL  EFFORTS. 

A  poor  woman  had  a  supply  of  coal  laid  at  her  door  by 
a  charitable  neighbor.  A  very  little  girl  came  out  with  a 
small  fire  shovel,  and  began  to  take  up  a  shovelful  at  a 
time  and  carry  it  in.  I  said  to  the  child,  ' '  Do  you  expect 
to  get  all  that  coal  in  with  that  little  shovel  ? "  She  was 
confused  at  my  question,  but  her  answer  was  striking, 
"Yes,  sir,  if  1  work  long  enough."  Humble  worker,  make 
up  for  your  want  of  ability  by  abundant  continuance  in 
well-doing,  and  your  life  work  will  not  not  be  trivial. 
Patience  in  small  efforts  will  effect  more  than  the  occa- 
sional use  of  great  talents. — SPURGEON 


PATIENCE   IN   RETREAT. 

Patience  is  hard,  sometimes.  Whilst  I  am  climbing  the 
mountains,  passing  through  the  wilderness,  daring  dan- 
gers, I  feel  comparatively  quiet,  or  even  glad.  But  to  sit 
down  when  the  angel  tells  me  to  sit,  and  not  to  stir  till  he 
comes  back  again — who  can  do  it  ? 

There  are  lines  of  retreat  in  every  great  life,  when  Christ 
must  be  driven  into  Egypt,  when  the  prophet  must  be  ban- 
ished into  solitude,  when  John  the  Baptist  must  be  in  the 
desert  eating  locusts  and  wild  fconey,  when  Saul  of  Tarsus 
must  be  driven  off  into  Arabia— times  when  "in  patience 
we  must  possess  our  souls."  But  an  asylum  need  not  be  a 
tomb,  retreat  need  not  be  extinction.  Make  the  best  of 
your  leisure.  You  want  to  be  at  the  front,  instead  of  that 
you  have  been  banished  to  the  rear.  It  is  for  a  wise  pur- 


213  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

pose.  Gather  strength,  let  the  brain  sleep,  yield  yourself 
to  the  spirit  of  the  quietness  of  God,  and  after  what  ap- 
pears to  be  wasted  time  or  unprofitable  waiting,  there  shall 
come  an  inspiration  into  thy  soul  that  shall  make  thee 
strong  and  fearless,  and  the  banished  one  shall  become  the 
center  of  nations. — PARKER. 


POOR 

"  For  ye  have  the  poor  always  with  you"~-MaU:  xxvit  ff. 


Think  you,  indeed,  Fate  is  unkind, 
In  poverty's  dull  chains  to  bind 
Or  fetter  my  aspiring  mind? 

Ah!  think  again: 
Lady,  my  Father  is  a  King; 
Around  His  Throne  immortals  sing, 

Their  faces  veil ! 

This  beauteous  world,  this  air-hung  ball, 
Sun,  moon,  and  stars,  both  great  and  small, 
My  Father  made,  and  owns  them  all; 

I  am  not  poor. 


NEAR   THE    SKIES.      • 

When  men  go  up  in  balloons  they  take  with  them  bags 
of  sand  for  ballast,  and  when  they  want  to  rise  higher  they 
throw  out  some  of  the  sand.  Now  there  are  some  Chris- 
tians who,  before  they  rise  higher,  will  have  to  throw  out 
some  ballast.  If  you  have  got  overloaded,  just  throw  out 
a  little  money,  and  you  will  mount  up  as  on  eagle's  wings. 
The  poor  are  often  wealthier  than  the  rich.  They  live 
nearer  the  skies,  nearer  to  God. — MOODY. 


PLEA   FOR  KINDNESS   TO  THE   POOR. 

Let  a  man  invite  the  poor  to  dinner,  and  how  people 
would  stop,  and  stare,  and  gaze  with  wonder  at  the  stream 
of  poverty  creeping  along  and  pouring  in  at  his  open  door 

213 


214  GEMS  OF  TRIKH  AND  BEAUTY. 

—  the  lame  hobbling  on  crutches,  the  blind  led  by  »  dog, 
or  little  child,  the  widow  clad  in  rusty  weeds,  the  poor 
outcast  with  rags  on  her  back  and  at  her  bosom  a  shriv- 
elled infant,  children  shivering  and  shoeless,  from  streets 
their  haunt  by  day,  from  dirty  dens  and  cellars  their  cold 
home  by  night!  Not  wondered  at  only,  and  supposed  by 
many  to  be  mad,  the  man  who  dare  do  this,  who  would 
render  a  literal  obedience  to  Christ's  command,  might  pre- 
pare for  no  measured  censure —  people  saying,  this  was  to 
turn  the  world  upside  down;  to  spoil  the  poor;  to  inflate 
them  with  notions  unbefitting  their  condition;  to  destroy 
the  lines  of  demarcation  which  God  in  His  providence  had 
drawn  between  the  different  classes  of  society.  What  a 
talk  such  a  feast  would  make  !  Nevertheless,  why  should 
it  not  be  tried  ? — GUTHRIE. 


MERCY  FOR  THE   POOR. 

Thank  God  there  is  mercy  for  the  poor!  The  great  Dr. 
Mason  preached  over  a  hundred  times  the  same  sermon, 
and  the  text  was,  "To  the  poor  the  gospel  is  preached." 
Lazarus  went  up,  while  Dives  went  down;  and  there  are 
candidates  for  imperial  splendor  in  the  back  alleys  and  by 
the  peat  fire  of  the  Irish  shanty.  King  Jesus  set  up  Hiss 
throne  in  a  manger  and  made  a  resurrection  day  for  the 
poor  widow  of  Nain,  and  sprang  the  gate  of  heaven  wide 
open,  so  that  all  the  beggars  and  thieves  and  scoundrels 
of  the  universe  may  come  in  if  they  only  repent. — TAL- 
MAGE. 


POVERTY   AND   HAPPINESS. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  poverty  brings  to  a  man  what 
all  his  wealth  had  failed  to  give — happiness.  A  man  too 
rich  to  be  industrious  is  a  prey  to  the  thousand  frets  of 


POOR.  215 

unoccupied  leisure.  The  want  of  proper  occupation  is  the 
cause  of  more  than  half  of  the  petty  frets  of  life. 

In  this  world,  it  is  not  what  we  take  up,  but  what  we 
give  up,  that  makes  us  rich. 

No  man  can  tell  by  turning  to  his  ledger  whether  he  is 
rich  or  poor.  It  is  the  heart  that  makes  a  man  rich.  He 
is  rich  or  poor,  according  to  what  he  is,  not  according  to 
what  he  has. — BEECHER. 


DANGER- OF   GREAT   RICHES. 

Crossing  the  Col  D'Obbia,  the  mule  laden  with  our  lug- 
gage sank  in  the  snow,  nor  could  it  be  recovered  until  its 
load  was  removed,  then,  but  not  till  then,  it  scrambled  out 
of  the  hole  it  had  made,  and  pursued  its  journey.  This 
circumstance  made  us  meditate  upon  the  wise  way  in 
which  the  gracious  Father  unloads  us  by  our  own  losses, 
and  brings  us  into  the  experience  of  poverty,  that  we  may 
be  able  to  pursue  our  journey  to  heaven,  and  not  sink  in 
the  snow  of  carnal-mindedness. — SPURGEON. 


THE   POOR   IN    HEAVEN. 

In  Christ's  conception  of  the  blessed  life,  I  find  men- 
tioned many  persons  that  I  did  not  expect  to  find  referred 
to,  and  I  find  many  persons  omitted  that  I  expected  would 
have  been  first  referred  to.  Let  me  take  the  beatitudes  as 
a  picture  of  Heaven.  Who  is  in  Heaven  ?  Blessed  are  the 
mighty,  for  they  are  in  Heaven;  blessed  are  the  rich,  for 
theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  glory;  blessed  are  the  famous,  for 
theirs  are  the  trumpets  of  eternity;  blessed  are  the  noble, 
for  the  angels  are  their  servants.  Why,  that  is  not  the 
text.  Who  is  in  Heaven  ?  The  poor  in  spirit.  Then,  per- 


216  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

haps,  we  may  be  there.  Not  many  mighty,  not  many  no- 
ble, not  many  learned,  not  many  brilliant  are  called;  then 
perhaps  we  may  be  there.  Woman,  mother,  sisters,  ob- 
scure person,  unknown  life — you  may  be  there. — PARKER. 


POWER 

"  Tarry  ye  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem  until  ye  be  endowed  with 
power  from  on  high, — Luke  xxiv:  49. 


Let  our  prayers  to  heaven  ascending, 
Earnest,  patient,  never  ending, 
Cleave  the  air  of  earth  and  sky, 
Reach  the  ear  of  Him  on  high, 
For  the  gift  of  holy  power, 
For  the  vitalizing  shower 
Of  the  blessed  spirit's  presence 
Every  moment,  every  hour. 

— CHAS.  BENJ. 

To  the  hills  we  lift  our  vision, 

From  whence  must  come  all  power, 
And  we  pray  to  God  the  Father, 

To  send  like  a  gentle  shower, 
The  spirit  of  light,  of  truth  and  might, 

To  brighten  our  hearts  and  show  us  the  way, 
From  the  realms  of  night 

To  unending  day. 

— IBID. 


POWERLESS   AND   USELESS. 

Of  what  use  would  be  the  machinery  which  is  to  be 
moved,  without  a  force  adequate  to  move  it?  Without  a 
main-spring  within  the  clock,  however  complete  all  its 
wheels,  pinioas,  pivots,  and  axles,  these  hands  would  stand 
on  the  face  of  time,  nor  advance  one  step  over  the  num- 
bered hours.  So  were  it  without  the  power  of  the  spirit, 
with  the  renewed  soul,  to  set  its  forces  in  action,  bring 
them  into  play,  and  impart  to  them  a  true  and  heavenward 
character.  — GUTHBIE. 

217 


218  GEAfS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

POWER   OF  DEEP   PIETY. 

A  man  of  deep  religious  experiences  is  always  effective. 
I  care  not  how  poor  his  voice  is,  or  how  uncomely  his 
countenance,  or  how  awkward  his  gestures,  or  how  shabby 
his  clothes,  or  how  lame  his  grammar.  By  taking  care  of 
our  own  vineyard,  we  learn  how  to  help  others  in  the  care 
of  their  vineyard.-— TALMAGE. 

THE  TEST  OF  GODLINESS. 

The  test  of  Godliness  is  power.  The  man  who  is  like 
God  in  holiness,  in  love,  in  goodness,  will  have  some  of 
God's  power.  He  will  be  a  sun,  around  which,  like  celes- 
tial bodies  around  their  solar  center,  smaller  characters 
will  revolve.  His  life  will  be  forceful,  magnetic,  and 
crowded  with  results.  His  influence  will  be  resistless,  for 
men  will  look  at  him  and  say, — "  He  is  a  good  man."  He 
is,  for  God  is  in  him. — BEECHER. 


GETTING   NEARER  GOD. 

In  driving  piles,  a  machine  is  used  by  which  a  high 
weight  is  lifted  up  and  then  made  to  fall  upon  the  head  of 
the  pile.  Of  course  the  higher  the  weight  is  lifted,  the 
more  powerful  is  the  blow  it  gives  when  it  descends.  Now 
if  we  would  tell  upon  our  age,  and  tell  upon  society  with 
ponderous  blows,  we  must  see  to  it  that  we  are  uplifted  as 
near  to  God  as  possible.  All  our  power  will  depend  upon 
the  elevation  of  our  spirits.  Prayer,  meditation,  commu- 
nion, devotion,  are  like  a  windlass  to  wind  us  up  aloft;  it 
is  not  lost  time  which  we  spend  in  such  sacred  exercises, 
for  we  are  thus  accumulating  force,  so  that  when  we  come 
down  to  our  actual  religion — labor  for  God,  we  shall 
descend  with  an  energy  unknown  to  those  to  whom  com- 
munion is  unknown.— SPURGEON. 


POWER.  219 

ANNOINTING  WITH    POWER. 

I  have  in  my  mind  a  minister  who  said,  "I  have  heart 
disease,  I  can't  preach  more  than  once  a  week,"  so  he  had 
a  colleague  to  preach  for  him  once  a  week  and  do  the  visit- 
ing. He  was  an  old  minister  and  couldn't  do  any  visiting. 
He  had  heard  of  the  annointing  of  power,  and  he  said,  "I 
would  like  to  be  annointed  for  my  burial.  I  would  like 
before  I  go  hence  to  preach  the  gospel  once  with  power" 
He  prayed  that  God  would  fill  him  with  the  spirit,  and  I 
met  him  not  long  after  that,  and  he  said,  ' '  I  have  preached 
on  an  average  eight  times  a  week,  and  I  have  had  conver- 
sions all  along."  The  spirit  came  on  him.  I  don't 
believe  that  man  broke  down  at  first  with  hard  work,  so 
much  as  with  using  the  machinery  without  oil,  without 
lubrication.  It  is  not  the  hard  work  which  breaks  down 
ministers,  but  it  is  the  toil  of  working  without  power. 
Oh,  that  God  may  annoint  His  people!  Not  the  ministry 
only,  but  every  disciple. — MOODY. 


PRAYEK. 

"  Men  ought  always  to  pray  " — Luke  xviii:  I. 


I  often  Bay  my  prayers; 

But  do  I  ever  pray? 
And  do  the  wishes  of  my  heart 

Go  with  the  words  I  say? 
I  may  as  well  kneel  down 

And  worship  gods  of  stone, 
As  offer  to  the  living  God 

A  prayer  of  words  alone, 
For  words  without  the  heart 

The  Lord  will  never  hear; 
Nor  will  He  to  those  lips  attend 

Whose  prayers  are  not  sincere. 

— JOHN  BUBTON. 


CONSISTENCY  IN  PRAYER. 

It  is  an  outrage  to  ask  God  to  do  a  thing  while  we  sit 
indolent.  The  prayer  to  be  acceptable,  must  come  not 
only  from  the  heart,  but  from  the  hands.  Luther  came  to 
Melancthon's  bedside  and  prayed  for  his  recovery,  and 
insisted,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  should  take  some  warm 
soup,  the  soup  being  just  as  important  as  the  prayer. 

If  a  man  has  "evening  prayers"  asking  for  health,  and 
then  sits  down  to  a  full  supper  of  indigestibles  at  eleven 
o'clock  at  night,  his  prayer  is  a  mockery.  A  man  has  no 
riirht  to  pray  for  the  safety  of  his  family  when  he  knows 
there  is  no  cover  on  the  cistern. — TALMAGE. 


THE   WEALTH   OF  PRAYER. 

"Now  unto  Him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abund- 
antly, above  all  that  we  can  ask  or  think,"  what  a  vision 

220 


PRA  YER.  221 

the  apostle  must  have  had!  How  much  can  a  man  ask  or 
think?  When  the  deepest  convictions  of  sin  are  upon  him, 
in  his  hour  of  dark  despondency,  in  some  perilous  pass  of 
life,  when  fears  come  upon  his  soul  as  on  Lake  Galilee  the 
storms  come,  consider  how  much  a  man  then  asks!  Or 
when  love  swells  in  his  soul,  and  makes  life  as  full  as 
mountains  make  the  streams  in  spring,  and  hope  is  the  sun 
by  day  and  the  moon  by  night, — in  those  glorious  elate 
hours  when  he  seems  no  longer  fixed  to  space  and  time, 
but,  mounting,  as  if  the  body  were  forgotten  by  the  soul, 
wings  his  way  through  the  realm  of  aspiration  and  concep- 
tion, consider  how  much  a  man  then  thinks!  The  prayers 
of  exiles,  of  martyrs,  of  missionaries,  of  the  Waldenses,  of 
the  covenanters,  of  mothers  for  children  gone  estray,  when 
with  plash  of  tears,  and  yearnings  that  can  find  no  speech, 
they  implore  God's  mercy  upon  them, — if  some  angel, 
catching  them  as  they  were  uttered,  should  drop  them 
down  from  heaven,  what  a  liturgy  would  they  make! — 
BEECHER. 


THE   BELL-ROPE   OF  HEAVEN. 

Prayer  pulls  the  rope  below  and  the  great  bell  rings 
above  in  the  ears  of  God.  Some  scarcely  stir  the  bell,  for 
they  pray  so  languidly;  others  give  an  occasional  pluck  at 
the  rope;  but  he  who  wins  with  heaven  is  the  man  who 
grasps  the  rope  boldly,  and  pulls  continuously,  with  all  his 
might. — SPURGEON. 

AN   EXAMPLE   OF   FAITH    IN  PRAYER. 

I  remember  hearing  of  a  boy  brought  up  in  an  English 
almshouse.  He  had  never  learned  to  read  or  write.  He 
only  knew  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  One  day  a  man  of 
God  came  there,  and  told  the  children  that  if  they  prayed 
to  God  in  their  trouble,  He  would  send  them  help.  After 


222  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

a  time  this  boy  was  apprenticed  to  a  farmer.     One  day  he 
was  sent  out  into  the  fields  to  look  after  some  sheep.     He 
was  having  rather  a  hard  time;  so  he  remembered  what  the 
preacher  had  said,  and  he  thought  he  would  pray  to  God 
about  it.  Some  one  going  by  the  field  heard  a  voice  behind 
the  hedge.     They  looked  to  see  whose  it  was,  and  saw  the 
little  fellow  on  his  knees,  saying,  "A,  B,  C,  D,"  and  so  on. 
The  man  said,   "My  boy,    what   are  you  doing?"    -He 
looked  up  and  said  he  was  praying.     "Why,  that  is  not 
praying;  it  is  only  saying  the  alphabet."    He  said  he  did 
not  know  just  how  to  pray,  but  a  man  once  came  to  the 
poor-house,  who  told  them  that  if  they  called  upon  God, 
He  would  help  them.    So  he  thought  that  if  he  named  over 
the  letters  of  the  alphabet,   God  would  take  them  and  put 
them  together  into  a  prayer,  and  give  him  what  he  wanted. 
The  little  fellow  was  really  praying.     Sometimes  when 
your  child  talks,  your  friends  cannot  understand  what  he 
says,  but  the  mother  understands  very  well.     So  if  our 
prayer  comes  right  from  the  heart,  God  understands  our 
language.  — MOODY. 

PRAYER   OMNIPOTENT. 

The  direct  power  of  prayer  is,  in  a  sense,  omnipotent. 

rayer  moves  the  hand  that  moves  the  world.     It  secures 

for  the  believer  the  resources  of  divinity.     What  battles 

it  not  fought!     What  victories  has  it  not  won!     What 

burdens  has  it  not  carried!  What  wounds  has  it  not  healed! 

V  hat  griefs  has  it  not  assuaged!     It  is  the  wealth  of  pov 

rtv,  the  refuge  of  affliction;  the  strength  of  weakness;  the 

light  of  darkness.     It  is  the  oratory  that  gives  power  to 

the  pulpit,  ,t  is  the  hand  that  strikes  down  Sa^a,  and 

breaks  the  fetters  of  sin;  it  turns  the  scales  of  rate  more 

than  the  edge  of  the  sword,  the  craft  of  statesmen,  or  the 

:  scepters,  it  has  arrested  the  wings  of  time,  turned 


PRA  YER.  223 

aside  the  very  scythe  of  death,  and  discnarged  heaven's 
frowning  and  darkest  cloud  in  a  shower  of  blessings. — 
GUTHRIE. 


A  PULPIT  PRAYER  IN  CITY  TEMPLE,  LONDON. 

Almighty  God,  hear  the  hearts  that  are  full  of  prayer, 
that  cannot  utter  their  desires  on  account  of  the  vehe- 
mency  of  their  secret  emotion.  Hear  the  parent  who 
wonders  where  the  wanderer  is,  and  would  offer  him  a 
thousand  welcomes  if  he  would  return.  Hear  the  mother 
who  must  live  in  her  sighs,  because  she  dare  not  put  them 
into  speech,  so  keen  and  poignant  her  yearnings  after  those 
who  are  out  of  the  way.  Hear  Thou  the  unuttered  desires 
of  the  penitent;  the  man  who  would  return  if  he  could 
find  some  secret  door  by  which  to  come  stealthily  into  his 
Father's  dishonored  house;  find  such  a  way  for  him  Thyself 
this  very  day,  and  make  this  the  birthday  of  his  soul,  the 
genesis  of  a  blessed  immortality.  Hear  us  for  our  loved 
ones  who  are  sick,  Mighty  Physician,  Tender  Nurse,  go 
into  all  our  sick  chambers,  and  by  the  brightness  of  Thy 
presence  bring  healing  to  the  souls  that  soon  must  quit 
their  tenements  of  clay. 

The  Lord  look  upon  the  old  man  tottering  over  his  staff, 
and  on  the  edge  of  the  open  grave;  the  Lord's  own  fingers 
touch  the  cheek  of  the  babe  cooing  in  his  cradle.  The 
Lord's  eyes  be  for  good  upon  the  bent  old  woman  who 
has  seen  the  measure  of  her  time  and  longs  for  the  city  of 
rest.  The  Lord  turn  the  counsel  of  every  evil  man  into 
confusion,  and  bring  him  thereby  not  to  ruin;  but  to  con- 
trition! The  Lord  unsettle  the  foundation  of  every 
iniquitous  throne;  the  Lord  baffle  the  decrees  of  every 
wicked  empire,  and  prosper  every  man  w«ho  endeavors  to 
do  good  with  symplicity  and  earnestness! 


224  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

The  Lord  hear  us  in  these  things!  We  are  always  in 
His  arms;  may  He  now  draw  us  more  closely  to  His  heart* 
Amen.  — PARKER. 

IGNORANT  PRAYERS  ANSWERED  IN  LOVE. 

Look  at  the  case  of  your  own  family  to-day,  and  your 
child  shall  come  and  say  to  you,  "  Give  me  your  most  pre- 
cious possession."     What  would  be  your  answer  to  the  lit- 
tle child  ?    Would  it  be  an  instant  imparting  of  the  gift? 
Nothing  of  the  kind.     Your  child  shall  come  to  you  and 
say,   "Let  me  go  out  all  to-day,  and  all  to-morrow,  and 
never  ask  where  I  am  or  what  I  am  doing.     Now  I  have 
asked  you,  give."    What  would  you  say  to  your  seven 
year-old  little  boy  who  came  with  that  prayer  ?     If  ye, 
then,  being  children  of  the  night,  bewildering  shadows, 
unable  to  see  straight  and  clear,  know  how  to  say  "No" 
under  the  inspiration  of  love,  how  much  more  may  your 
Father  in  Heaven  say  "No  "  to  your  poor  prayers,  your 
ignorant  supplications,  your  asking  for  scorpions  under  the 
supposition  that  they  are  eggs.     For  the  naturalist  tells  us 
that  the  scorpion  coils  itself  up  so  as  to  look  very  much 
like  an  egg;  hard-hearted  would  be  our  Father  in  Heaven, 
having  heard  our  prayer  when  we  have  mistaken  a  coiled 
scorpion  for  an  egg,  if  his  answer  would  be  the  reply  of 
death.  — PARKER. 


PREACHING. 


The  pr  caching  oj  the  cross." — i  Cor.  i:  18. 


Would  I  describe  a  preacher,  Buch  as  Paul, 
Were  lie  on  earth,  would  hear,  approve  and  own — 
Paul  should  himself  direct  me,  I  would  trace 
His  master-strokes,  and  draw  from  his  design. 
I  would  express  him  simple,  grave,  sincere ; 
In  doctrine,  uncorrupt;  in  language,  plain; 
And  plain  in  manner;  decent,  solemn,  chaste, 
And  natural  in  gesture ;  much  impressed 
Himself,  as  conscious  of  his  awful  charge, 
And  anxious  mainly  that  the  flock  he  feeds 
May  feel  it  too.     Affectionate  in  look, 
And  tender  in  address,  as  well  becomes 
A  messenger  of  grace  to  guilty  men. 

WILLIAM  COWPER. 


O  !  if  you  could  have  seen  Paul  preach,  you  would  not 
have  gone  away  from  the  sermon  as  you  do  from  some  of 
us,  with  half  a  conviction  that  we  do  not  mean  what  we 
say.  His  eyes  preached  a  sermon  without  his  lips,  and  his 
lips  preached  it,  not  in  a  cold  and  frigid  manner,  but  every 
word  fell  with  an  overwhelming  power  upon  the  hearts  of 
his  hearers.  He  preached  with  power,  because  he  was  in 
downright  earnest.  You  had  a  conviction  when  you  saw 
him  that  he  was  a  man  who  thought  he  had  a  work  to  do, 
and  must  do  it,  and  could  not  contain  himself  unless  he  did 
do  it.  He  was  the  kind  of  a  preacher  whom  you  would 
expect  to  see  walk  down  the  pulpit  stairs,  straight  into  his 
coffin,  and  then  stand  before  his  God,  ready  for  his  last 

225 


226  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

account.  Where  are  the  men  like  that  man  ?  I  confess  I 
cannot  claim  that  privilege,  and  I  seldom  hear  a  solitary 
sermon  which  comes  up  to  the  mark  in  earnest,  deep,  pas- 
sionate longing  for  the  souls  of  men.  We  have  no  eyes 
now  like  the  eyes  of  the  Savior,  which  could  weep  over 
Jerusalem;  we  have  few  voices  like  that  earnest,  impas- 
sioned voice,  which  seemed  perpetually  to  cry,  ' '  O  Jerusa- 
lem !  Jerusalem  !  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thee 
as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  but  ye 
would  not"  If  ministers  of  the  gospel,  instead  of  giving 
lectures,  and  devoting  a  large  part  of  their  time  to  literary 
and  political  pursuits,  would  preach  the  word  of  God,  and 
preach  it  as  if  they  were  pleading  for  their  own  lives,  ah ! 
then,  my  brethren,  we  might  expect  better  success. — 
SPURGEON. 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL. 

I  have  spoken  a  great  many  times  in  New  York  city,  but 
I  believe  that  I  never  preached  the  gospel  here  but  once. 
That  was  twelve  or  fifteen  years  ago  down  at  the  Tombs. 
I  have  spoken  a  great  many  times  in  different  parts  of  the 
city,  but  I  have  never  preached  the  gospel  but 
once.  I  have  tried  to  arouse  Christians  up  to  work.  People 
are  in  the  habit  of  thinking  that  anything  that  is  in  the  way 
of  a  religious  meeting  is  the  gospel,  but  they  are  mistaken. 
I  have  had  quite  a  number  of  letters  from  Christians  com- 
plaining because  I  don't  preach  the  gospel  to  the  people. 
Now,  I  believe  I  was  converted  years  before  I  knew  what 
the  gospel  meant.  Now  the  word  means  "  good  spell,"  or 
in  other  words  "  God's  spell." 

The  gospel  is  good  tidings,  tidings  not  of  condemnation 
and  sentence,  but  of  pardon  and  peace.  Christ  came  into 
the  world  to  bring  good  news.  Did  you  ever  see  or  hear 
any  one  that  didn't  like  to  hear  good  news  ?  The  gospel  is 


PREACHING.  227 

good  tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  people,  "for 
unto  us  is  born,  in  the  city  of  David,  a  Savior."  I  don't 
believe  that  better  news  ever  fell  upon  the  ears  of  mortal 
man,  than  the  news  of  the  gospel.  Now  any  man  can 
preach,  but  all  are  not  annointed  to  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel .  Yonder  is  a  man  who  preaches  law,  yonder  one 
who  preaches  philosophy,  another  science,  another  ethics, 
all  preachers,  but  not  of  the  gospel.  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  me,  because  He  hith  annointed  me  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  poor." — MOODY. 


THEY  MAKE  OTHERS  FEEL  WHO  FEEL  THEMSELVES. 

An  obscure  man  rose  up  to  address  the  French  Conven- 
tion. At  close  of  his  oration  Mirabeau,  the  giant  genius 
of  the  Revolution,  turned  round  to  his  neighbor,  and  eagerly 
asked, "  Who  is  that"  ?  The  other,  who  had  been  in  no  way 
interested  by  the  address,  wondered  at  Mirabeau's  curios, 
ity.  Whereupon  the  latter  said,  "That  man  will  yet  ask 
a  great  part,"  and,  being  asked  to  explain  himself, 
added,  "He  speaks  as  one  who  believes  every  word  he 
says."  Much  of  pulpit  power  under  God  depends  on  that 
— admits  of  that  explanation,  or  one  allied  to  it.  They  make 
others  feel,  who  feel  themselves. — GUTHRIE. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  PREACHING. 

Illustrative  preaching  is  intended  as  well  for  the  unlearned 
as  the  learned,  for  converting  the  unlettered  poor,  whose 
souls  are  as  precious  in  God's  sight  as  those  of  philosophers 
or  kings.  An  humble  woman  well  expressed  it,  "I  like 
best  the  likes  of  scripture."  She  comprehended  best,  and 
was  most  interested  and  edified  by  those  passages  of  the 
Bible  which  present  abstract  truth  under  concrete  forms, 
and  of  which  we  have  examples  in  such  expressions  of 


228  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

our  Lord's  as  these — "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto 
a  grain  of  mustard  seed — unto  a  treasure — unto  a  merchant 
— unto  a  householder — unto  a  husbandman — unto  a  king." 
A  story  in  a  sermon,  like  a  float, keeps  it  from  sinking;  like 
a  nail,  fastens  it  in  the  mind;  like  the  feathers  of  an  arrow 
makes  it  strike;  and  like  the  barb,  makes  it  stick." — IBID. 


LEARNING   HOW   TO   PREACH. 

If  it  is  your  duty,  go  to  preaching  the  gospel.  How 
shall  you  learn  to  preach?  Just  as  the  carpenter  learns 
how  to  be  a  carpenter.  Does  he  sit  down  and  study  books 
about  tools,  about  hammers  and  axes  ?  Oh,  no!  He  goes 
to  boring  with  the  bit,  and  emoothing  with  the  plane,  and 
smiting  with  the  hammer,  and  striking  with  the  adze;  and 
in  this  way  he  gets  to  be  a  carpenter.  So,  the  way  to  learn 
how  to  preach  the  gospel  is  to  preach  it. 

Yonder  is  a  man  who  ought  to  be  preaching.  He  has 
not  been  ordained,  and  he  never  will  be.  He  could  not  be, 
perhaps.  It  may  be  he  has  not  brains  enough,  or  time 
enough,  or  money  enough.  But  he  is  ordained  of  God. 
Let  him  preach.  Here  is  another.  He  may  not  perhaps 
be  able  to  round  his  sentences,  or  make  elegant  allusions 
or  fine  quotations;  and  yet  he  may  be  able  to  save  a  soul 
from  death  and  hide  a  multitude  of  sins.  Ohi  for  five 
thousand  men  such  as  Moody  to  come  out  of  Chicago,  and 
five  thousand  George  H.  Stuarts,  to  come  out  from  Phila- 
delphia, and  five  thousand  Henry  F.  Durants  to  come  out 
from  Boston,  and  preach  this  glorious  gospel,  waiting  for 
no  other  ordination  except  that  which  comes  from  the  hand 
of  the  Lord  Almighty. — TALMAGE. 

EXPERIMENTAL   PREACHING. 

There  is  no  such  preaching  as  the  experience  which  a 
man  gives  who  has  just  realized  the  ajnfulness  of  his  own 


PREACHING.  229 

soul.  I  often  hear  myself  outpreached  by  some  new  con- 
vert  who  can  hardly  put  words  together.  Some  say  expe- 
rimental preaching  is  shallow.  Shallow!  It  is  as  deep  as 
^.he  soul  of  God. 


Young  man,  when  you  get  a  parish  don't  get  discouraged 
for  the  first  ten  years,  no  matter  how  poor  the  work.  There 
is  no  trade  that  requires  so  long  an  apprenticeship  as 
preaching;  and  yet  there  is  no  trade  to  which  they  admit  a 
man  so  soon,  or  in  which  he  learns  so  fast.  It  is  easier  to 
study  law  and  become  a  successful  practitioner,  it  is  easier 
to  study  medicine  and  become  a  successful  practitioner, 
than  it  is  to  study  the  human  soul  all  through, — to  know 
its  living  forms,  and  to  know  the  way  of  talking  to  it,  and 
coming  into  sympathy  with  it. 

THE   APOSTOLIC   IDEA  OF  PREACHING. 

The  apostolic  idea  of  preaching  was  the  secret  of  the 
power  of  the  first  Christian  Church  for  many  hundred 
years.  It  is  historically  true  that  Christianity  did  not  in 
its  beginning  succeed  by  the  force  of  its  doctrines,  but  by 
the  lives  of  its  disciples.  It  succeeded  first  as  a  light,  in 
accordance  with  the  Master's  command.  "Let  your  light 
so  shine  before  men  that  they,  seeing  your  good  works, 
may  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  Make  reli- 
gion attractive  by  the  goodness  that  men  see  in  you ;  be  so 
-sweet,  so  sparkling,  so  buoyant,  so  cheerful,  hopeful,  cour- 
ageous, conscientious  and  yet  not  stubborn,  so  perfectly 
benevolent  and  yet  not  mawkish  or  sentimental;  blossom- 
ing in  everything  that  is  good,  a  rebuke  to  everything  that 
is  mean  or  little, — make  such  men  of  yourselves  that  every 
body  who  looks  upon  you  may  say,  "that  is  a  royal  good 
fellow;  he  has  the  spirit  that  I  should  like  to  lean  upon  in 


230  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

time  of  trouble,  or  to  be  a  companion  with  at  all  times." 
Build  up  such  a  manhood  that  it  shall  be  winning  to  men. 
That  is  what  the  early  Christians  did. 

We  are  to  seek  to  preach,  not  simply  by  our  own  per- 
sonal experience,  but  by  bringing  together  one  and  another 
in  the  church,  and  having  the  whole  life  of  the  church  so 
beautiful  in  the  community  that  it  shall  be  a  constant 
attraction  to  win  men  unceasingly  to  us  and  our  influence. 
— BEECHEK. 


DISHONORING   THE   BIBLE. 


It  is  indeed  pitiable,  something  quite  absurdly  vain  to 
hear  a  certain  kind  of  people  making  out  by  lame  violence, 
which  they  mistake  for  forcible  reasoning,  that  the  Bible 
is  an  old-world  book,  a  rag  out  of  fashion,  not  a  garment 
fit  for  this  day's  wearing.  Some  knavish  preachers  are  not 
ashamed  to  do  this:  They  have  lived  on  the  dear  old  book, 
it  has  kept  them  and  their  families  in  food  and  lodging 
these  last  thirty  years,  and  yet  they  have  nothing  good  to 
say  about  it;  they  like  better  the  last  book  which  they  do 
not  understand,  or  the  last  novel  which  is  as  hemlock  or 
strychnine  to  the  soul.  Thieves  they  be,  knaves  with  pul- 
pit robes  reluctantly  thrown  over  their  thievish  breasts. 
Beware  of  them.  They  are  clever  liars,  swindlers  who 
look  too  innocent  to  be  quite  guiltless,  hirelings  who  hun- 
ger for  the  pelf.  I  could  respect,  in  some  grim  way,  the 
vulgar  infidel  who  blasphemes  openly  and  on  purpose,  and 
rejoices  in  his  pitiful  bellowing,  mistaking  the  very  bla- 
tency  for  courage;  but  the  man  in  the  pulpit  who  insults 
the  Bible  on  which  he  lives,  and  wriggles  out  of  the  pro- 
fession by  which  he  climbed  to  the  pulpit  he  dishonors,  I 
charge  with  worse  crimes  than  those  which  blackened  Bar- 
rabus  or  damned  Iscariot— PARKER. 


PREACHING.  231 

PRACTICAL   PREACHING. 

A  mistake  is  often  made  about  this  matter  of  practical 
preaching.  If  a  man  denounce  the  iniquities  of  his  clay,  he 
is  thought  to  be  a  practical  preacher.  To  a  certain  extent 
he  is  entitled  to  that  designation.  If  I  were  to  denounce 
theatres  (as  usually  understood),  race  courses,  public 
houses,  gambling  houses,  I  should  be  thought  to  be  a  most 
practical  preacher,  and  within  a  given  limit, — a  very  small 
one,  albeit, — I  should  be  preaching  practically  and  use- 
fully. That  work  needs  to  be  done,  must  be  done.  But 
he,  too,  is  a  practical  preacher  who  encourages  men  to  try 
to  be  better  and  do  better.  He  also  is  a  practical  preacher 
who  says,  "Young  man,  you  failed  there,  but  pluck  up 
your  spirits;  try  again;  God  bless  you;  try  to  do  better 
next  time."  He  also  is  a  practical  preacher  who  recog- 
nizes the  sufferings  of  those  who  come  to  God's  house  to 
hear  his  word.  Sorrow  is  as  great  fact  as  sin.  There 
is  not  a  heart  here  to-day  that  has  not  ached,  or  that 
will  ache,  by-and-by.  I  take  you  man  for  man,  pew 
after  pew,  and  the  mourners  outnumber  those  who 
have  had  nothing  but  gladness.  The  preacher,  there- 
fore, is  a  practical  preacher  who  recognizes  that  fact,  and 
speaks  comfortably,  who  delivers  healing  gospels  to  broken 
hearts,  who  deals  out  bread  to  the  hungry,  and  who  gives 
the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness.  I  often 
want  to  hear  such  a  preacher  myself;  namely,  the  man  who 
takes  the  high  and  bright  view  of  things,  who  shows  me 
that  my  pain  is  for  my  good,  that  my  loss  is  the  beginning 
of  my  riches,  that  all  discipline  and  chastening,  though  for 
the  present  anything  but  joyous,  will  afterward  yield  me 
results  that  will  make  the  soul  nobler  and  tenderer. — 
PACKER. 


PROCRASTINATION. 


"  Seek  the  Lord  while  He  may  be  found;  call  upon  Him  while 
He  is  near" — Isaiah  Iv:  6. 


To-morrow,  and  to-morrow,  and  to-morrow, 
-  Creeps  in  this  pretty  face  from  day  to  day, 
To  the  last  syllable  of  recorded  time ; 
And  all  our  yesterdays  have  lighted  fools 
The  way  to  dusty  death.     Out,  out,  brief  candle ! 

— SHAKE  SPEAKE. 


SHAME,  PRIDE,  OR  FEAR. 

Hungry  souls  go  up  and  down,  to  and  fro,  before  Christ's 
table,  when  there  is  bread  that  will  cause  that  hunger  to 
cease  forever,  and  water  that  is  drawn  from  the  river  com- 
ing from  God's  throne;  and  yet  they  have  gone  back, 
thinking  what  wife  would  say.  what  father  would  say, 
what  the  business  partner  would  say,  what  gay  compan- 
ions would  say.  They  feel  that  gnawings  of  hunger,  and, 
as  they  look  at  the  spread  table,  they  say,  ' '  Oh,  how  we 
reed  this  food,  but  we  dare  not  come  and  take  it. "  Oh ! 
what  is  it  causes  their  delay,  and  keeps  them  thus  back? 
It  is  shame,  pride,  or  fear.  — BEECHER. 


DANGER  OF   DELAY. 

Do  any  of  you  remember  the  loss  of  the  vessel  called 
the  " Central  America?''  She  was  in  a  bad  state,  had 
sprung  a  leak  and  was  going  down,  and  she  therefore 
hoisted  a  signal  of  distress.  A  ship  came  close  to  her,  the 

232 


PROCRASTINATION.  233 

captain  of  which  asked  through  the  trumpet,  "What  is 
the  matter  ? "  "  We  are  in  bad  repair,  and  are  going  down: 
lie  by  till  morning,"  was  the  answer.  But  the  captain  of 
the  rescue-ship  said,  "Let  me  take  your  passengers  on 
board  now."  "Lie  by  till  morning,"  was  the  answer  that 
came  back.  Once  again  the  captain  cried,  "You  had  bet- 
ter let  me  take  your  passengers  on  board  now."  "  Lie  by 
till  morning,"  sounded  through  the  trumpet.  About  an 
hour  and  a  half  after,  the  lights  were  missing,  and  though 
no  sound  was  heard,  she  and  all  on  board  had  gone  down 
to  the  fathomless  abyss.  O  unconverted  friends,  for  God's 
sake  do  not  stay  in  sin  and  answer  the  Spirit's  pleadings* 
"Lie  by  till  morning."  To-day,  even  to-day  hear  ye  the 
voice  of  God. — SPURGEON. 


A  SAD  EXAMPLE   OF   PROCRASTINATION. 

A  man  told  me  the  following  story,  which  I  have  never 
forgotten.  "  When  I  left  home  my  mother  gave  me  this 
text:  "  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God."  But  I  paid  no 
heed  to  it.  I  said  when  I  got  settled  in  life,  and  my  ambi- 
tion to  get  money  was  gratified,  it  would  be  time  enough 
then  to  seek  the  kingdom  of  God.  I  went  from  one  village 
to  another  and  got  nothing  to  do.  When  Sunday  came,  I 
went  into  a  village  church,  and  what  was  my  surprise  to 
hear  the  minister  give  out  this  text,  "  Seek  first  the  king- 
dom of  God."  The  text  went  to  the  bottom  of  my  heart.  I 
thought  that  it  was  only  my  mother's  prayers  following 
me,  or  that  some  one  must  have  written  to  the  minister 
about  me.  I  felt  very  uncomfortable,  and  when  the  meet- 
ing was  over,  I  could  not  get  the  sermon  out  of  my  mind. 
I  went  away  from  that  town,  and  at  the  end  of  a  week 
went  into  another  church,  and  heard  the  minister  give  out 
the  same  text,  "  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God."  I  felt  sure 


234  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

this  time  it  was  the  prayers  of  my  mother,  but  I  said 
calmly  and  deliberately,  "No,  I  must  first  get  wealthy."  I 
went  on,  and  did  not  go  into  a  church  for  a  few  months, 
but  the  first  place  of  worship  I  went  into,  a  third  minister 
preached  a  sermon  from  the  same  text.  I  tried  to  drown, 
to  stifle  my  feelings;  tried  to  get  the  sermon  out  of  my 
mind,  and  resolved  that  I  would  keep  away  from  church 
altogether,  and  for  a  few  years  did  keep  out  of  God's 
house.  My  mother  died,  and  that  text  she  had  given  me 
kept  coming  up  in  my  mind,  and  I  said  I  will  try  to  become 
a  Christian.  I  could  not;  no  sermon  ever  touches  me;  "  my 
heart  is  as  hard  as  a  stone." 

I  heard  that  story  when  I  was  a  boy,  and  after  I  got  to 
be  a  man,  I  went  back  home,  and  asked  my  mother  what 
had  become  of  the  man  who  told  it.  "  Didn't  I  write  to 
you  about  him?"  she  asked.  "They  have  taken  him  to 
an  insane  asylum,  and  to  every  one  who  goes  there,  he 
points  upward  with  his  finger  and  says,  "Seek  first  the 
kingdom  of  God."  There,  in  the  asylum,  was  that  man 
with  his  eyes  dull  with  the  loss  of  reason,  but  the  text  had 
sunk  into  his  soul — it  had  burned  down  deep. — MOODY. 


TEMPORAL  VERSUS  ETERNAL    INTERESTS. 

As  death  may  happen  any  day,  it  is  certainly  wise  to  be 
prepared  for  it  every  day.  So  men  make  their  wills;  but, 
so,  alas,  they  don't  mind  their  souls!  This  ye  should  have 
done,  but  not  have  left  the  other  undone.  There  is  no  law- 
yer, but,  if  you  have  any  property  to  dispose  of,  and  would 
not  have  your  death  the  signal  for  quarrels  and  lawsuits 
and  heart  burnings,  will  advise  you  to  make  a  settlement, 
nor  delay  one  day  to  do  so.  Oh,  how  much  more  need  to 
make  your  peace  with  God,  and  prepare  your  eternal 
rather  than  your  temporal  affairs  for  death,— to  make  it  all 


PR  OCR  A  S  TINA  TION.  235 

up  with  Him  who  is  willing  to  forgive  all,  and  is  now  tar- 
rying on  the  road,  to  give  you  time  to  get  oil,  and  go  forth 
with  joy  to  the  cry,  "Behold  the  Bridegroom  cometh.— 
GUTHRIE. 


PREPARATION  FOR  A  LONG*  JOURNEY. 

What  if  a  man  going  to  San  Francisco  should  make 
preparations  for  his  journey  from  Brooklyn- to  Hoboken, 
and  no  further.  Would  you  not  call  him  a  fool  ?  But  here 
is  a  man  about  starting  on  an  everlasting  journey,  and  yet 
he  postpones  his  preparation  until  the  very  last  moment  of 
time.  The  distance  from  here  to  the  grave  is  smaller  when 
compared  with  eternity,  than  the  distance  from  here  to 
Hoboken  is  small  compared  with  the  thousands  of  miles 
between  here  and  San  Francisco.  Here  is  a  man  who 
thinks  only  of  the  three  or  four  yards  of  human  life,  and 
regards  not  the  millions  of  furlongs  stretching  out  into  the 
infinite. 


LOSING   THE   THRONE. 

My  brother,  I  am  afraid  you  may  lose  heaven  the  way 
Louis  Phillipe  lost  his  empire.  The  Parisian  mob  came 
around  the  Tuilleries.  The  national  guard  stood  in  defense 
of  the  palace,  and  the  commander  said  to  Louis  Phillipe, 
"Shall  I  fire  now?  shall  I  order  the  troops  to  fire?  With 
one  volley  we  can  clear  the  place."  "No,"  said  Louis 
Phillipe,  "Not  yet."  A  few  minutes  passed  on,  and  then 
Louis  Phillipe  seeing  the  case  was  hopeless,  said  to  the 
general,  "Now  is  the  time  to  fire."  "No,"  said  the  gen- 
eral, "It  is  too  late  now;  don't  you  see  the  soldiers  are 
exchanging  arms  with  the  citizens?  It  is  too  late. "  Down 
went  the  throne  of  Louis  Phillipe.  Away  from  the  earth 
went  the  house  of  Orleans,  and  ah  because  the  king  said? 


236  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY, 

"Not  yet,  not  yet."  May  God  forbid  that  any  of  you 
should  adjourn  this  great  subject  of  religion,  and  should 
postpone  assailing  your  spiritual  foes  until  it  is  too  late — 
too  lute,  you  losing  a  throne  in  heaven  the  way  that  Louis 
Phillipe  lost  a  throne  on  earth. — TALMAGE. 


PUNISHMENT. 


"These  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment.''' — Matthew 
xxr:  46. 


When,  after  life  is  o'er,  and  we  have  passed 

To  our  eternal  destiny,  and  fixed  for  aye 

Our  dwelling  place,  in  heaven  or  hell, 

If  happy  we  shall  be  with  angel  hosts  above, 

Our  joy  shall  be  not  all  in  present  peace, 

And  in  the  company  of  souls  redeemed ; 

But  in  the  memory  of  Christian  acts  and  words 

On  earth  we  did  and  spoke  for  His  name's  sake. 

But  if  in  hell,  we  upward  lift  our  hopeless  eyes 

To  plead  for  those  we  left  behind  in  sin, 

And  if,  in  banishment  from  God,  our  course  shall  end, 

Not  all  our  torment  shall  be  in  the  fiery  heat, 

Where  wailings,  gnashing  of  the  teeth  and  cries 

Of  pain  unceasing  shall  ascend ;  but  in  the  recollection 

Of  our  stubborn  will  which  led  us  to  reject  the  Lord; 

To  toll  the  feet  of  others  from  the  way ;  to  break  a  mother's  heart ; 

To  curse  the  God  who  made  us,  and  to  crucify 

Again  the  loving  Jesus.     An  awful  sentence  that — 

"Remember  thou!"    A  punishment  intense,  from  which  to  flee, 

Will  be  impossible. 

CHARLES  BENJ.  MANLY. 


PUNISHMENT  PROPORTIONED   TO   SIN. 

We  sometimes  say  that  punishment  should  be  propor- 
tioned to  sin.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  that  is  most  true 
and  just.  It  is  most  true  and  just  with  regard  to  all  pun- 
ishment that  comes  from  the  outside.  It  is  a  law  which 
must  be  obeyed  by  the  parent,  the  magistrate,  and  every 
wronged  or  offended  man.  But  this  is  by  no  means  the 

237 


238  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

limit  of  the  question.  The  punishment  which  a  man  in- 
flicts upon  himself  is  infinitely  severer  than  any  punish- 
ment that  can  be  inflicted  upon  him.  "  A  wounded  spirit 
who  can  bear."  You  remember  how  you  ill-treated  that 
poor  child  now  dead;  you  saw  the  anguish  of  his  soul,  and 
he  besought  you  and  you  would  not  hear;  and  now  a'  great 
distress  is  come  upon  you  and  your  bread  is  very  bitter. 
Who  is  punishing  you?  Not  the  magistrate.  Who  then  ? 
You  are  punishing  yourself.  You  cannot  forgive  your- 
self. The  child  touches  you  at  every  corner,  speaks  to  you 
in  every  dream,  moans  in  every  cold  wind,  and  lays  its 
thin  pale  hand  upon  you  in  the  hours  of  riot  and  excite- 
ment. You  see  that  ill-used  child  everywhere;  a  shadow 
on  the  fair  horizon;  a  back-ground  to  the  face  of  every 
other  child;  a  ghastly  contrast  to  everything  lovely  and 
fair.  Time  cannot  quench  the  fire.  Events  cannot  throw 
into  dim  distance  this  tragic  fact.  It  surrounds  you,  mocks 
you,  defies  you,  and  under  its  pressure  you  know  the  mean- 
ing of  the  words,  which  no  mere  grammarian  can  under- 
stand, "  The  wicked  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  pun- 
ishment. " — PARKER. 


THE   WAGES   OF   SIN. 

Did  not  one  who  was  as  near  to  me  almost,  as  flesh  and 
blood,  and  who  stood  high  both  in  church  and  in  business 
circles,  in  an  evil  hour  fall  into  forgeries  ?  When  he  awoke 
to  the  magnitude  of  the  transgression  he  would  take  no  re- 
lease, and  said,  "I  have  sinned,  and  I  ought  to  suffer  as 
any  other  man  would  suffer  who  has  sinned,"  he  forced  a 
trial  upon  the  court,  was  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  and 
went  there  willingly.  He  took  his  place  among  the  pris- 
oners and  served  there  faithfully;  but  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
was  on  him,  and  his  child  sickened  and  died,  and  the  gov- 
ernment would  not  remit  a  day  that  he  might  go  to  the 


PUNISHMENT.  289 

burial  of  his  darling.  Months  rolled  on,  and  the  wife  sick- 
ened; her  very  reason  languished.  That  suffering  was  fol- 
lowed by  all-merciful  death.  Then  in  this  chastening,  even 
the  heart  of  the  government  relented,  and  let  him  go  home 
to  the  burial  of  his  wife.  Since  then  he  has  walked  a  free 
life,  so  far  as  the  law  is  concerned;  but  he  is  solitary.  He 
lives  as  if  he  were  in  the  center  of  the  great  desert  of  Sa- 
hara; for  society  will  not  forgive  any  man  who  touches  its 
money.  — BEECHEB. 


A  WARNING. 

Some  years  ago,  on  a  grand  jubilee  occasion,  a  distin- 
guished statesman  rose  up  in  the  presence  of  assembled 
thousands,  and,  in  reply  to  certain  calumnious  and  dishon- 
orable charges  raised  his  hands  in  the  vast  assembly,  ex- 
claiming, "These  hands  are  clean!"  Now,  if  you  or  I,  or 
any  of  our  fallen  race,  did  entertain  a  hope  that  we  could 
act  over  this  scene  before  God  in  judgment,  I  could  com- 
prehend the  calm  and  unimpassioned  indifference  with 
which  men  sit  in  churches  on  successive  Sabbaths,  eye  the 
Cross  of  Calvary,  and  listen  to  the  overtures  of  mercy. 
Are  these  matters  with  which  you  have  nothing  to  do  ?  If, 
indeed,  you  have  no  sins  to  answer  for;  if  before  this 
world's  great  assize,  you  are  prepared  not  only  to  plead, 
but  to  prove  your  innocence;  if  conscience  accuses  you  in 
nothing  and  excuses  you  in  everything,  then  sleep  on,  in 
God's  name,  sleep  on,  and  take  your  rest.  But  when  the 
heavens  over  men  are  clothed  in  thunders,  and  hell  yawns 
beneath  their  feet,  and  both  God's  law  and  their  own  con- 
science condemn  them,  such  indifference  is  madness !  Be- 
ware !  Play  with  no  fire;  least  of  all,  with  fire  unquench- 
able. Play  with  no  edged  sword;  least  of  all,  with  that 
which  justice  sheathed  in  a  Savior's  bosom.  Delay  by  the 


GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

mouth  of  no  pit;  least  of  all,  on  the  brink  of  a  bottomless 
one,  the  smoke  of  "whose  torment  goeth  up  forever  and 
ever. — GUTHRIE. 


"SOWING   THE    TARES." 

I  was  at  the  Paris  exhibition  in  1867,  and  I  noticed  there 
a  little  oil  painting,  only  about  a  foot  square,  and  the  face 
was  the  most  hideous  I  have  ever  seen.  On  the  paper  at- 
tached to  the  painting  were  the  words,  "Sow ing  the  Tares," 
and  the  face  looked  more  like  a  demon's  than  a  man's.  As 
he  sowed  these  tares,  up  came  serpents  and  reptiles,  and 
they  were  crawling  up  on  his  body,  and  all  around  were 
wolves  and  other  wild  animals  prowling  in  them.  I  have 
seen  that  picture  many  times  since.  Ah,  the  reaper  is  com- 
ing. If  you  sow  to  the  flesh,  you  must  reap  the  flesh. — 
MOODY. 


"LIKE  THE  CHAFF." 

The  ungodly  "  are  like  the  chaff  which  the  wind  driveth 
away."  Where — where — where?  Where  are  they  driven  ? 
The  man  is  in  health,  the  sun  shines,  the  sky  is  calm,  the 
world  is  still  about  him.  Suddenly  there  is  seen  a  little 
cloud  the  size  of  a  man's  hand.  A  little  signal  overtakes 
him.  The  hurricane  begins  to  rise,  but  first  it  is  only  a 
faint  breath.  The  wicked  man  feels  the  cold  air  blowing 
on  him,  but  he  screens  it  with  the  physician,  and  he  thinks 
that  surely  he  shall  live.  The  storm  is  on.  God  hath  de- 
1  it.  and  man  cannot  stay  it.  The  breath  becomes  a  wind, 
the  wind  a  storm,  the  storm  a  howling  hurricane.  His  soul  is 
i»t  away.  To  go  to  Heaven  on  angels  wings  is  a  glori- 
ous thing;  but  to  be  swept  out  of  this  world  with  the 
wieked  is  an  awful  thing— to  be  carried,  not  on  wings  of 
cherubs,  but  on  the  eagle  wings  of  the  wind;  to  be  borne, 
not  by  yon  songsters  up  to  their  feathered  seats,  but  to  be 


PUNISHMENT.  241 

carried  away  in  the  midst  of  a  howling  tempest  by  grim 
fiends.  — SPURGEON. 


GOOD   ADVICE. 

In  order  to  hold  yourselves  masters  of  your  appetites, 
begin  early.  It  is  no  use  for  a  man  forty-five  years  of  age 
beginning  to  say  he  is  going  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf;  the 
leaves  won't  be  turned  then.  I  think,  perhaps,  I  may  be 
speaking  discouragingly  to  some  man  who  is  making  at 
that  time  of  life  a  resolution  to  do  better.  Well,  to  reso- 
lution, to  perseverance,  to  devout  energy,  it  is  possible,  but 
it  is  not  easy.  Young  man,  lay  down  your  cigar;  it  will 
do  you  no  good.  Throw  away  your  pipe;  it  does  not  make 
you  manly;  it  only  makes  you  a  nuisance  to  other  and  bet- 
ter people;  and  don't  touch  strong  drink  of  any  kind  what- 
ever. This  is  the  testimony  that  I  have  to  bear:  that  he 
who  gives  way  to  these  things  in  his  youth  is  committing 
suicide  by  inches.  He  is  taking  away  his  will-power,  he 
is  dulling  his  finest  sensibilities.  It  does  not  tell  upon  him 
all  at  once;  he  may  live  to  be  an  old  man  and  say:  "  It  is 
a  very  slow  poison."  What  he  might  have  been  he  never 
thinks  of ;  he  only  sees  what  he  is,  a  tough,  much-enduring 
man;  whereas,  he  might  have  been  a  very  prince,  and  king, 
and  guide,  and  friend  among  the  highest  classes  of  the  land. 
Let  me  ask  you  to  attend  to  the  discipline  of  saying  "  No." 
I  love  to  see  the  practice  of  manly  sports  of  the  right  kind: 
running,  leaping,  swimming,  and  divers  gymnastic  exer- 
cises. I  rejoice  exceedingly  in  all  these  athletic  pastimes, 
and  in  all  these  disciplinary  sports  and  enjoyments.  They 
have  a  great  purpose  to  serve,  but  there  is  still  a  higher 
discipline — a  discipline  of  the  soul;  a  discipline  which  ena- 
bles one  to  look  at  a  bodily  advantage  and  say:  "I  will 


242  GEMS  OP  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

not  touch  it;"  the  discipline  which  enables  a  man  to  receive 
an  invitation,  on  gilt-edged  paper  and  scented,  to  spend  an 
evening  with  sinners  in  their  gluttony  and  their  wine  bib- 
bing, and  that  enables  him  to  put  it  into  the  fire. — PA.KKER. 


RESURRECTION. 


"  The  hour  is  coming  in  which  all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall 
hear  His  voice,  and  shall  come  forth" — John  v:  28,  29. 


The  seed,  the  insentient  seed, 

Buried  beneath  the  earth, 

Starts  from  its  dusty  bed, 

Responsive  to  the  breath  of  spring, 

And  covers  mead  and  mountain, 

Fields  and  forests,  with  its  life. 

Myriads  of  creatures,  too,  that  lay 

As  dead  as  dust  on  every  inch  of  ground, 

Touched  by  the  vernal  ray, 

Spring  from  their  little  graves,  and  sport 

On  beautious  wings  in  fields  of  sunny  air. 

Shall  this  be  so?  shall  plants  and  worms 

Come  forth  to  life  again?  And,  oh,  shall  man 

Descend  into  the  grave  to  rise  no  more? 

Shall  he,  the  master  of  this  world, 

Image  and  offspring  of  the  fontal  life, 

Through  endless  ages  sleep  in  dust? 

-  THOMAS. 


DEATH   A   SLEEP,    RESURRECTION  A  WAKING. 

On  a  summer's  day,  the  gentle  western  wind  brings  in 
all  the  sweets  of  the  field  and  garden;  and  the  child,  over- 
tasked by  joy,  comes  back  weary,  and  climbs  for  sport  into 
the  mother's  lap;  and  before  he  can  sport,  he  feels  the  balm 
of  rest  stealing  over  him,  and  lays  his  curly  head  back 
upon  her  arm;  and  look!  he  goes  to  sleep;  hush!  he  has  gone 
to  sleep;  and  all  the  children  stand  smiling.  How  beauti- 
ful it  is  to  see  a  child  drop  asleep  upon  its  mother's  arm! 

243 


244  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

And  it  is  said  of  one,  "  He  fell  asleep  in  Jesus."  Is  there 
anything  so  high,  so  noble,  so  divine,  as  the  way  in  which 
the  New  Testament  speaks  of  dying?  How  near  death  is, 
and  how  beautiful! 

If  you  have  lost  your  companions,  children,  friends,  you 
have  not  lost  them.  They  followed  the  Pilot.  They  went 
through  airy  channels,  unknown  and  unsearchable,  and 
they  are  with  the  Lord;  and  you  are  going  to  be  with  Him 
too.  I  die  to  go,  not  to  Jerusalem,  but  to  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem. I  die,  not  to  wait  in  the  rock-ribbed  sepulchre,  which 
shall  hold  me  sure;  I  die,  that  when  this  body  is  dropped  I 
shall  have  a  place,  in  the  inward  fullness  of  my  spiritual 
power,  with  the  Lord.  "  Because  He  lives,  I  shall  live 
again,  also." — BEECHER. 


THE   MASTER   OF   THE   GRAVE. 

Christ  is  the  Master  of  the  grave.  Just  outside  of  the 
gate  of  the  city  of  Nain,  Death  and  Christ  measured  lances; 
and  when  the  young  man  rose,  Death  dropped.  Now  we 
are  sure  of  our  resurrection.  Oh,  what  a  scene  it  was  when 
that  young  man  came  back!  The  mother  never  expected 
to  hear  him  speak  again.  She  never  thought  that  he  would 
kiss  her  again.  How  the  tears  started,  and  how  her  heart 
throbbed  as  she  said,  "Oh,  my  son,  my  son,  my  son!" 
And  that  scene  is  going  to  be  repeated.  It  is  going  to  be 
repeated  ten  thousand  times.  These  broken  family  circles 
have  got  to  come  together.  These  extinguished  household 
lights  have  got  to  be  rekindled.  There  will  be  a  stir  in  the 
family  lot  in  the  cemetery,  and  there  will  be  a  rush  into 
life  at  the  command,  "Young  man,  I  say  unto  thee,  arise!" 
As  the  child  shakes  off  the  dust  of  the  tomb,  and  comes 
forth  1'resh  and  fair,  and  beautiful,  and  you  throw  your 
arms  around  it  and  press  it  to  your  heart,  angel  to  angel 


RESURRECTION.  245 

will  repeat  the  story  of  the  resurrection  at  Nam,    '  •  He 
delivered  him  to  his  mother." 

O  ye  troubled  souls!  O  ye  who  have  lived  to  see  every 
prospect  blasted,  peeled,  scattered,  consumed!  wait  a  little. 
The  seed-time  of  tears  will  become  the  wheat  harvest.  In 
a  clime  cut  of  no  wintry  blast,  under  a  sky  palled  by  no 
hurtling  tempest,  and  amidst  redeemed  ones  that  weep  not, 
that  part  not,  that  die  not,  friend  will  come  to  friend,  and 
kindred  will  join  kindred,  and  the  long  procession  that 
marches  the  avenues  of  gold  will  lift  up  their  palms  as 
again  and  again  it  is  announced  that  the  same  one  who 
came  to  the  relief  of  the  stricken  widow  of  Nain,  to  the 
relief  of  the  weeping  sisters  of  Bethany,  has  come  to  the 
relief  of  many  a  maternal  heart,  and  repeated  the  wonders 
of  resurrection. — TALMAGE. 


A  JOYFUL   DOCTRINE. 

The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  is  full  of  joy  to  the 
bereaved.  It  clothes  the  grave  with  flowers  and  wreathes 
the  tomb  with  unfading  laurel.  The  sepulchre  shines  with 
a  light  brighter  than  the  sun,  and  death  grows  fair,  as  we 
say,  in  full  assurance  of  faith.  "I  know  my  brother  shall 
arise  again."  Rent  from  the  ignoble  shell,  the  pearl  is  gone 
to  deck  the  crown  of  the  "Prince  of  Peace."  Buried 
beneath  the  sod,  the  seed  is  preparing  to  bloom  in  the 
King's  garden. — SPURGEON. 


A  WRONG   VIEW   OF   DEATH. 

We  ought  not   to  look  upon  death  as  we  do.     Bishop 
Heber  has  written  of  a  dead  friend!     . 

"  Thou  art  gone  to  the  grave,  but  we  will  not  deplore  thee, 
Though  sorrow  and  darkness  encompass  the  tomb ; 

Thy  Savior  has  passed  through  its  portals  before  thee, 
And  the  lamp  of  His  love  is  thy  guide  through  the  gloom." 


24G  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

The  roll  is  being  called,  and  one  after  another  is  being 
summoned  away,  but  if  their  names  are  there,  if  we  know 
that  they  are  saved,  how  sweet  it  is,  after  they  have  left 
us,  to  think  tbat  we  shall  meet  them  by  and  by;  that  we 
shall  see  them  in  the  morn  when  the  night  has  worn  away. 

During  the  late  war  a  young  man  lay  on  a  cot,  and  they 
heard  him  say,  "  Here,  here  !  "  and  some  one  went  to  bi> 
cot  and  wanted  to  know  what  he  wanted,  and  he  said, 
"  Hark!  hush!  don't  you  hear  them  ?  "  kt  Hear  who  ? "  was 
asked,  "They  are  calling  the  roll  of  heaven,"  he  said,  and 
pretty  soon  he  answered,  "  Here!  "  and  he  was  gone.  If 
our  names  are  in  the  Book  of  Life,  by  and  by  at  the 
trumpet  call  of  the  resurrection  morning,  when  the  name 
is  called,  we  can  say  with  Samuel,  "  Here,  Lord  Jesus," 
and  fly  away  to  meet  Him. — MOODY. 


A   MATCHLESS   CHANGE. 

Who  saw  the  rolling  waves  stand  up  a  rocky  wall;  who 
saw  the  water  of  Cana  flow  out  rich  purple  wine;  who  saw 
Lazarus's  festering  corpse,  with  health  glowing  on  its 
cheek,  and  its  arms  enfolding  sisters  ready  to  faint  with 
joy,  saw  nothing  to  match  the  change  the  grave  shall  work 
on  these  mouldering  bones.  Sown  in  corruption,  they  shall 
rise  in  incorruption,  mortal  putting  on  immortality.  How 
beautiful  they  shall  be!  Never  more  shall  hoary  time  write 
age  on  a  wrinkled  brow.  The  whole  terrible  troupe  of 
diseases  cast  with  sin  into  hell,  the  saints  shall  possess 
unfading  beauty,  and  enjoy  a  perpetual  youth;  a  pure  soul 
shall  be  mated  with  a  worthy  partner  in  a  perfect  body, 
and  an  angel  form  shall  lodge  an  angel  mind.— GUTHBIE. 


REST. 

"  There  remaineth  therefore  a  rest  to  the  people  of  God." — Heb. 
iv:  p. 


We  ?.re  but  children  crying  here  upon  a  mother's  breast, 

For  life  and  peace  and  blessedness,  and  for  eternal  rest! 

Bless  God  I  hear  a  still  small  voice,  above  life's  clamorous  din, 

Saying-,  "Faint  not,  O  weary  one,  thou  yet  mays't  enter  in; 

That  city  is  prepared  for  those  who  well  do  win  the  fight, 

Who  tread  the  wine-press  till  its  blood  hath  washed  their  garments  white ; 

Within  it  is  no  darkness,  nor  any  baleful  flower 

Shall  there  oppress  thy  weeping  eyes  with  stupifying  power. 

It  lieth  calm  within  the  light  of  God's  peace-giving  breast, 

Its  walls  are  called  Salvation,  the  city's  name  is  Rest." 

—ANON. 


DESIRE   FOR  REST. 

What  has  been,  and  is  now,  one  of  the  strongest  feelings 
in  the  human  heart?  Is  it  not  to  find  some  better  place, 
some  lovlier  spot,  than  we  have  now  ?  It  is  for  this  that 
men  are  seeking  everywhere;  and  yet,  they  can  have  it,  if 
they  will;  but  instead  of  looking  down,  they  must  look  up 
to  find  it.  As  men  grow  in  knowledge,  they  vie  with  each 
other  more  and  more  in  making  their  homes  attractive,  but 
the  brightest  home  on  earth  is  but  an  empty  barn,  com- 
pared with  the  mansions  that  are  in  the  skies. 

What  is  it  that  we  look  for  at  the  decline  and  close  of 
life?  Is  it  not  some  sheltered  place,  some  quiet  spot, 
where,  if  we  cannot  have  constant  rest,  we  may  at  least 
have  a  foretaste  of  what  perfect  rest  is  to  be.  What  was  it 

247 


248  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

that  led  Columbus,  not  knowing  what  would  be  his  fate, 
across  the  unsailed  western  seas,  if  it  was  not  the  hope  of 
finding  a  better  country  ?  This  it  was  that  sustained  the 
hearts  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  driven  from  their  native 
land  by  persecution,  as  they  faced  a  rock-bound,  savage 
coast,  with  an  unexplored  territory  beyond.  They  were 
cheered  and  upheld  by  the  hope  of  reaching  a  free  and 
fruitful  country,  where  they  could  be  at  rest  and  worship 
God  in  peace.  Somewhat  similar  is  the  Christian's  hope 
of  heaven.  — MOODY. 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  LIFE  NOT  ONE  OF  REST. 

The  life  of  a  Christian  is  not  one  of  rest.  He  who  is  con- 
verted, believes,  and  is  thereby  savingly  united  to  Christ, 
has,  to  use  the  words  of  Nehemiah,  ua  great  work  to  do." 
He  enters  on  a  harder  task  than  Gideon's.  His  enemies, 
paralyzed  with  terror,  flying  like  a  flock  of  sheep  that 
barking  dogs  pursue,  fell  without  an  attempt  at  resist- 
ance. Not  so  does  Satan  yield.  He  makes  desperate 
efforts  to  rally  his  scattered  forces,  and  recover  the  ground 
he  has  lost.  By  no  means  easily  expelled,  he  lurks  in  our 
habits  and  hides  in  the  recesses  of  our  hearts.  Now  a  cun- 
ning serpent,  and  now  a  roaring  lion;  at  one  time  with 
devilish  craft  he  proposes  terms  of  peace,  and  at  another, 
seeking  not  to  deceive,  but  to  cast  us  into  despair,  he 
comes  forth,  boastful  as  Goliath,  to  defy  the  armies  of 
the  living  God.  And  even  when  he  flies,  as  the  apostle 
;t»ures  us  he  will  do  if  we  resist  him,  he  flies  like  the 
ancient  Parthians — fighting  all  the  while,  and  with  the  fiery 
darts  he  shoots,  putting  the  believer's  peace  in  jeopardy, 
and  making  his  armor  ring. 

To  conquer  sin  is  work  unceasing,  and  not  at  all  easy. 
I  know  a  weed  which,  more  than  any  .other  which  infests 


REST.  249 

the  ground,  gardeners  and  husbandmen  find  it  hard  to 
exterminate.  Shooting  its  long,  knotted  fibres  under  the 
surface,  spreading  in  all  soils,  whether  rich  or  poor,  with 
unexampled  rapidity,  it  survives  being  crushed  beneath  the 
heel,  or  cut  into  morsels  with  the  spade;  and,  tenacious  of 
life,  springs  again,  if  the  smallest  portion  of  its  root  is  left 
in  the  ground.  Such  is  sin!  With  an  enemy  like  this  can 
we  have  any  cessation  from  work  ? — GUTHRIE. 


DANGER  OF  RESTFUL    EASE. 

Dangers  are  in  very  many  cases  blessings  in  disguise. 
They  prevent  us  from  drowsiness  in  spiritual  matters.  You 
never  read  that  Christian  went  to  sleep  when  lions  were  in 
the  way ;  he  never  slept  when  he  was  going  through  the  river 
Death,  or  when  he  was  in  Giant  Despair's  castle,  or  when 
he  was  fighting  with  Apollyon.  Poor  creature!  he  almost 
wished  he  could  sleep  then.  But  when  he  had  got  half  way 
up  the  Hill  Difficulty,  and  came  to  a  pretty  little  arbor,  in 
he  went,  and  sat  down,  and  began  to  read  his  roll.  O,  how 
he  rested  himself!  How  he  unstrapped  his  sandals  and 
rubbed  his  weary  feet!  Very  soon  his  mouth  was  open, 
his  arms  hung  down,  and  he  was  fast  asleep.  Again,  the 
enchanted  ground  was  a  very  easy,  smooth  place,  and  lia- 
ble to  send  the  pilgrim  to  sleep.  You  remember  Bunyan's 
descriptions  of  some  of  the  arbors.  "Then  they  came  to 
an  arbor,  warm,  and  promising  much  refreshing  to  the 
weary  pilgrims;  for  it  \yas  finely  wrought  above  head, 
beautified  with  greens  and  furnished  with  benches  and  set- 
tees. It  had  also  in  it  a  soft  couch,  where  the  weary  might 
lean." 

Oh,  depend  upon  it,  it  is  in  easy  places  that  men  shut 
their  eyes,  and  wander  into  the  dreamy  land  of  forgetful- 
ness.  Take  care,  thou  who  art  full  of  gladness.  There  is 
no  season  in  which  we  are  so  likely  to  fall  asleep  as  that  of 


250  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

high  enjoyment.  The  disciples  went  to  sleep  after  they 
had  seen  Christ  transfigured  on  the  mountain  top.  Rest 
not,  O  Christian,  while  souls  are  being  lost,  while  men  are 
being  damned,  while  hell  is  being  peopled,  while  Christ  is 
being  dishonored,  while  the  devil  is  grinning  at  thy  sleepy 
face,  while  demons  are  dancing  round  thy  slumbering  car- 
cass, and  telling  it  in  hell  that  a  Christian  is  asleep! — 
SPURGEON. 

IDLENESS  NOT  REST. 

Idleness  is  not  rest.  Idleness  is  not  happiness.  Rest  is. 
The  poor  man  with  industry  is  happier  than  the  rich  man 
in  indolence.  Labor  makes  the  one  more  manly,  while 
riches  unmans  the  other.  The  slave  is  often  happier  than 
the  master,  who  is  nearer  undone  by  license  than  his  vas- 
sal l>y  toil.  Luxurious  couches,  plushy  carpets  from  Ori- 
ental looms,  pillows  of  eider-down,  carriages  contrived  with 
cushions  and  springs  to  make  motion  imperceptible, — is  the 
indolent  master  of  these  as  happy  as  the  slave  who  wove 
the  carpet,  the  Indian  who  hunted  the  northern  flock,  or  the 
servant  who  drives  the  pampered  steeds  ?  Let  those  who 
envy  the  gay  revels  of  city  idlers,  and  pine  for  their  mas- 
querades, their  routs,  and  their  operas,  experience  for  a 
week  the  lassitude  of  their  society,  the  unarousable  torpor 
of  their  life  when  not  under  a  fiery  stimulus,  their  des- 
perate ennui  and  restless  somnolency,  and  they  would 
gladly  flee  from  their  haunts  as  from  a  land  of  cursed  en- 
chantment. — BEECHEB. 


REWARD. 


"Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  oj 
rife." — Rev.  ii:  10. 


"The  season  will  come  and  is  coming, 

When  the  Christian  shall  lay  down  the  cross, 
And  receive  the  reward  from  his  glorified  Lord, 
Feel  joy  without  measure, 
Exchange  gain  for  pleasure, 
Obtain  gain  for  loss." 

— CHAS.  BENJ.  MANLY. 


REWARD   FOR  UNAPPRECIATED  LABOR. 

Cheer  up  men  and  women  of  unappreciated  services. 
You  will  get  your  reward,  if  not  here,  hereafter.  When 
Charles  Wesley  comes  up  to  judgment,  and  the  thousands 
of  souls  which  were  wafted  into  glory  through  his  songs 
shall  be  enumerated,  he  will  take  his  throne.  When  John 
Wesley  will  come  up  to  judgment  his  name  will  be  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  salvation  of  millions  of  souls 
brought  to  God  through  the  Methodism  which  he  founded, 
and  he  will  take  his  throne.  But  between  the  two  thrones 
of  John  Wesley  and  Charles  Wesley,  there  will  be  a  throne 
higher  than  either,  on  which  shall  sit  Susannah  Wesley, 
who  with  maternal  consecration  in  Epworth  Rectory, 
started  those  two  souls  on  their  mission  of  sermon  and 
song  through  all  following  ages.  Oh,  what  a  day  that  will 
be  for  many  who  rocked  Christian  cradles  with  weary  fe^t 
who  patched  worn-out  garments  and  darned  socks,  and 
with  a  small  income  made  the  children  comfortable  for  the 
winter.  What  a  day  that  will  be  for  those  to  whom  the 

251 


252  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

world  gave  the  cold  shoulder,  and  called  them  nobodies, 
and  begrudged  them  the  least  recognition,  and  who,  weary 
and  worn,  and  sick,  fainted  by  the  brook  Besor.  Oh,  that 
will  be  a  mighty  day  when  the  Son  of  David  shall  distrib- 
ute among  them  the  garlands  the  crowns,  the  scepters,  the 
chariots,  the  thrones.  And  then  it  shall  be  found  out  that 
all  who  on  earth  served  God  in  inconspicuous  spheres  re- 
ceived just  as  much  reward  as  those  who  filled  the  earth 
with  uproar  of  achievement.  Then  they  shall  understand 
the  height,  the  depth,  the  length,  the  breadth,  the  pillared 
and  domed  significance  of  that  verse:  "  As  his  part  is  that 
goeth  down  to  the  battle,  so  shall  his  part  be  that  tarrieth 
by  the  stuff. "— TALMAGE. 

THE   LIGHT  WILL   SOON   BREAK. 

Last  night  I  saw  a  faint  yellow  light  struggling  with  fee- 
ble timidity  against  some  angry  clouds;  they  gathered 
against  the  light  as  if  determined  to  shut  it  out;  and  the 
pale  moon  seemed  too  languid  for  resistance,  but  the  breeze 
came  to  help  her;  the  thickening  clouds  were  broken,  and 
the  moon  seemed  to  take  heart;  brighter  and  brighter  were 
her  mild  beams,  until  at  last  she  stood  up  in  the  southern 
sky,  the  clouds  all  gone,  like  an  angel  watching  from  afar 
the  flowers  which  the  sun  had  just  forsaken.  So  shall  it 
be  with  our  cloudy  life,  if  we  be  God's  children,  the 
clouds  are  not  permanent.  They  are  but  elevated  shadows. 
The  true  light  will  pierce  them,  melt  them,  scatter  them, 
and  we  shall  stand  out  distinct  as  stars,  lighter  than  ever 
cloud  ascended,  renewed  in  lustre  by  the  infinite  glory  of 
God. — PARKER. 

THE  CHRISTIAN'S  REWARD. 

Am  I  poor  ?    He  cannot  be  poor  to  whom  God's  angels 
come  every  day  and  every  night.     Have  I  no  riches  here  \ 


REWARD.  253 

I  have  all  that  every  man  owns  on  this  earth,  and  all  that 
God  owns  besides.  I  am  an  heir  of  God.  I  am  joint  heir 
with  Jesus  Christ. 

You  say,  "That  is  a  hifalutin  notion."  It  is  not.  I  am 
myself  a  witness,  and  I  testify  that  this  is  so.  I  do  own 
the  beauty  and  the  glory  of  this  world  because  1  am  a  child  of 
God,  and  as  such,  I  am  the  heir  of  my  Father.  There  is 
not  a  bird  that  flies  that  is  not  mine.  There  is  not  an  insect 
that  lives  and  enjoys  its  brief  space  of  life  that  is  not  mine. 
There  is  not  a  mountain-top  that  is  not  mine.  There  is 
nothing  that  glows  in  the  seasons  that  is  not  mine.  The 
very  drapery  of  the  heavens  is  mine.  He  is  yours  whom 
you  love,  and  he  cannot  keep  himself.  And  this  is  our  re- 
ward. — BEECHER. 


THE   BRIGHTEST  HONORS   OF  HEAVEN. 

Others  may  have  filled  the  world  with  the  breath  of  their 
name;  he  has  helped  to  fill  Heaven;  others  may  have 
won  an  earthly  renown;  but  he  who,  a  Christian  himself, 
has  sought  to  make  others  Christians — who,  reaching  the 
rock  himself,  draws  another,  a  perishing  child,  friend, 
brother,  neighbor,  up — plucked  from  the  flood  himself, 
pulls  another  out — who  has  leaped  into  the  depths  that  he 
might  rise  with  a  pearl,  and  set  it  lustrous  in  Jesus'  crown — 
he  is  the  man  who  shall  wear  Heaven's  brightest  honors, 
and  to  whom,  before  all  else,  the  Lord  will  say:  "Well 
done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of 
thy  Lord." — GUTHRIE. 

REWARD  OF  GOODNESS    SOMETIMES   IMMEDIATE. 

Occasionally  a  benevolent  action  wrought  in  faith  brings 
with  it  an  instantaneous  recompense  in  kind;  therein  Prov- 
dence  is  seen  as  smiling  upon  the  deed.  The  late  John 
Andrew  Jones,  a  poor  Baptist  minister,  whilst  walking  in 


254  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

Cheapside,  was  appealed  to  for  help  by  some  one  he  knew. 
He  had  but  a  shilling  in  the  world,  and  poised  it  in  his  mind 
to  give  or  not  to  give  ?  The  greater  distress  of  his  acquain- 
tance prevailed,  and  he  gave  his  all,  walking  away  with 
the  sweet  remembrance  of  the  promise:  "He  that  hath 
pity  upon  the  poor,  lendeth  unto  the  Lord,  and  that  which 
he  hath  given  will  He  pay  him  again.''  He  had  not  gone 
a  hundred  yards  further  before  he  met  a  gentleman  who 
said  :  "Ah,  Mr.  Jones,  I  am  indeed  glad  to  see  you.  I 
have  had  this  sovereign  in  my  waistcoat  pocket  for  a  week 
past  for  some  poor  minister,  and  you  may  as  well  have  it." 
Mr.  Jones  was  wont  to  add,  when  telling  the  story  :  '-If  I 
had  not  stopped  to  give  relief,  I  should  have  missed  the 
gentleman  and  the  sovereign  too." — SPURGEON. 


HEAVEN  A  PLACE  OF  REWARD. 

Heaven  is  the  place  of  victory  and  triumph.  This  is  the 
battle-field;  there  is  the  triumphal  procession.  This  is  the 
land  of  the  sword  and  the  spear ;  that  is  the  land  of  the 
wreath  and  the  crown.  Oh,  what  a  thrill  of  joy  will  shoot 
through  the  hearts  of  all  the  blessed  when  their  conquests 
will  be  made  complete  in  Heaven;  when  death  itself,  the 
last  of  foes,  shall  be  slain,  and  Satan  dragged  as  captive 
at  the  chariot  wheels  of  Christ. — MOODY. 


RICHES. 

"  How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God!" — Luke  xviii:  24. 


Gold  and  silver  like  the  snow 

Quickly  pass  away; 
Like  the  curtained  clouds  of  summer, 

Enduring  not  a  day; 
Like  the  early  dew  of  morning, 

Drunken  by  the  sun ; 
Or  the  maddened  hill-side  torrent, 

Whose  course  is  quickly  run. 
But  the  grace  of  Christ,  our  Savior, 

Bringeth  riches  more 
Than  the  tongue  of  man  can  utter, 

And  of  wealth  a  store 
Like  the  river,  failing  never 

Flowing  evermore. 

— CHAS.  BENJ.  MANLY. 


ADVERSITY  A  BLESSING  SOMETIMES. 

I  don't  believe  we  would  have  had  such  a  blessing  in 
New  York  during  these  meetings,  if  it  had  not  been  for 
these  hard  times.  When  men  get  their  millions,  and  hoard 
theii  up,  I  think  it  is  the  very  best  thing  that  can  happen  to 
them  to  have  the  Lord  come  and  take  their  riches  away.  If 
a  rmn  lends  his  money  to  the  Lord,  in  maintaining  good 
works,  he  will  never  lose  it.  People  say  that  such  a  man 
died  worth  so  many  millions.  It  doesn't  make  any  differ- 
ence how  much  a  man  accumulates,  he  can't  die  worth  any- 
thing, for  he  leaves  it  here.  He  is  not  worth  a  penny,  if 

255 


256  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

he  has  not  laid  it  up  in  heaven,  where  thieves  do  not  break 
through  and  steal. — MOODY. 


DANGER   OF    RICHES. 

The  danger  and  deceitful  influence  of  riches,  their  ten- 
dency to  turn  our  thoughts  away  from  another  world,  and 
drown  such  concern  for  the  soul  as  providences  or  preach- 
ers may  have  awakened,  in  the  cup  of  pleasure,  is  awfully 
expressed  in  the  saying  of  the  Lord,  "It  is  easier  for  a 
camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle,  than  for  a  rich 
man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."  Dr.  Johnson  put 
the  point  well  when,  on  Garrick  showing  him  his  beautiful 
mansion  and  grounds.  The  great  man  and  moralist  laid 
his  hand  gently  on  the  player's  shoulder,  and  said,  "Ah, 
David,  David,  these  are  the  things  which  make  a  death-bed 
terrible ! "— GUTHRIE. 

"  A  POOR  RICH  MAN." 

A  man  may  have  every  comfort  and  luxury  here,  and 
yet  come  to  a  wretched  future.  It  is  no  sin  to  be  rich.  It 
is  a  sin  not  to  be  rich,  if  we  can  be  honestly.  I  wish  I  had 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars — I  suppose  I  might  as  well 
make  it  a  million — I  see  so  much  suffering  and  trial  every 
day,  that  I  say  again  and  again,  I  wish  I  had  the  money 
to  relieve  it.  But  alas  for  the  man  who  has  nothing  but 
money!  Dives'  house  had  a  front  door  and  a  back  door, 
ami  they  both  opened  into  eternity.  Sixty  seconds  after 
Dives  was  gone,  of  what  use  were  his  horses  ?  he  could  not 
ride  them;  of  what  use  his  rich  viands  ?  he  could  not  open 
his  clenched  teeth  to  eat  them;  of  what  use  his  fine  linen 
shirts  !  he  could  not  wear  them.  The  poorest  man  who 
stood  along  the  road  watching  the  funeral  procession  of 
Dives  owned  more  of  this  world  than  the  dead  gormandi- 


RICHES.  257 

zer.  The  future  of  the  other  world  was  all  the  darker 
because  of  the  brightness  of  this.  Who  of  you  will  take 
Dives'  fine  home,  and  costly  plate,  and  dazzling  equipage, 
and  kennel  of  blooded  dogs,  if  his  eternity  must  be  thrown 
in  with  it  ? 

The  Indian  who  for  a  string  of  beads  sells  as  much  terri- 
tory as  will  make  a  State,  is  wise  compared  with  a  man 
who  for  the  trinkets  of  earth  barters  heaven. — TALMAGE. 


SHAM   GENEROSITY. 

Oftentimes  you  will  find  men  who  have  been  penurious 
all  their  lives,  and  who  have  amassed  a  fortune,  attempting 
to  buy  respect  in  their  old  age.  Sometimes  they  dp  it  by 
making  their  will,  and  letting  it  be  known  what  they  are 
going  to  do.  That  is  an  exquisite  piece  of  trickery. 
Where  a  man  wants  to  keep  his  money,  and  also  wants  to 
have  the  credit  of  giving  it  away,  he  holds  on  to  it,  and 
lets  it  be  known  that  he  is  going  to  give  $250,000  for 
benevolent  purposes, — $10,000  here,  and '$20,000  there, 
$50,000  somewhere  else,  and  so  on.  There  are  many  men 
that  are  going  to  be  very  generous  when  they  die.  Dead 
men  are  always  generous.  They  keep  their  money  while 
they  live,  and  only  give  it  away  when  they  no  longer  own 
it.  When  men  are  surrounded  by  all  that  earth  can  give 
them, — by  position,  by  circumstance,  by  plenary  physical 
blessings, — how,  after  all,  do  they  long  for  morel  How 
pitious  it  is  to  see  them! — BEECHEB. 


AVOID   ANXIETY  FOR   RICHES. 

Do  not  be  over-anxious  about  riches.  Get  as  much  of 
true  wisdom  and  goodness  as  you  can;  but  be  satisfied  with 
a  very  moderate  portion  of  this  world's  good.  Riches  may 
prove  a  curse  as  well  as  a  blessing. 


258  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

I  was  walking  through  an  orchard  looking  about  me, 
when  I  saw  a  low  tree  laden  more  heavily  with  fruit  than 
the  rest.  On  a  nearer  examination,  it  appeared  that  the 
tree  had  been  dragged  to  the  very  earth,  and  broken  by  the 
weight  of  its  treasures.  "  Oh,"  said  I,  gazing  on  the  tree, 
"here  lies  one  who  has  been  ruined  by  his  riches." 

In  another  part  of  my  walk,  I  came  up  writh  a  shepherd 
who  was  lamenting  the  loss  of  a  sheep  that  lay  mangled 
and  dead  at  his  feet.  On  inquiring  about  the  matter,  he 
told  me  that  a  strange  dog  had  attacked  the  flock,  that  the 
rest  of  the  sheep  had  got  away  through  a  hole  in  the  hedge, 
but  that  the  ram  now  dead  had  more  wool  on  his  back  than 
the  rest,  and  the  thorns  of  the  hedge  held  him  fast  till  the 
dog  had  worried  him.  "  Here  is  another,''  said  I,  "ruined 
by  his  riches." 

At  the  close  of  my  ramble,  I  met  a  man  hobbling  along 
on  two  wooden  legs,  leaning  on  two  crutches.  "  Tell  me," 
said  I,  "  my  poor  fellow,  how  you  came  to  lose  your  legs." 
"  Why,  sir,"  said  he,  "in  my  younger  days,  I  was  a  sol- 
dier. With  a  few  comrades,  I  attacked  a  party  of  the 
enemy,  and  overcame  them,  and  we  began  to  overload  our- 
selves with  spoil.  I  burdened  myself  with  as  much  as  I 
could  carry.  We  were  pursued.  My  companions  escaped, 
but  I  was  overtaken  and  so  cruelly  wounded,  that  I  only 
saved  my  life  afterwards  by  losing  my  legs.  It  was  a  bad 
aflair,  sir,  but  it  is  too  late  to  repent  of  it  now."  "Ah, 
friend,"  thought  I,  "like  the  fruit  tree  and  the  mangled 
sheep,  you  may  date  your  downfall  to  your  possessions. 
It  was  your  riches  that  ruined  you." — SPUEGEON. 


SABBATH. 


"  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy" — Ex.  xx:  8. 


Now  let  us  repose  from  our  care  and  our  sorrow, 
Let  all  that  is  anxious  and  sad  pass  away; 

The  rough  cares  of  life  lay  aside  till  to-morrow, 
And  let  us  be  tranquil  and  happy  to-day. 

— JAMES  EDMESTON. 


THE   LORD'S  DAY  IN  PARIS. 

Let  my  readers  fancy  that  as  they  pass  on  their  way  to 
the  house  of  God,  they  see  almost  all  the  shops  in  their 
native  town  Oi  village  standing  open,  with  men  and  women 
buying  and  selling,  and  they  have  an  idea  of  the  desecra- 
tion of  the  Lord's  day  in  Paris.  The  tide  and  toil  of  busi- 
ness does  not  cease  in  very  many  cases  till  night  brings 
rest  to  its  weary  slaves.  On  returning  from  evening  ser- 
vice, I  have  seen  them  still  behind  the  counter,  chained  to 
the  oar;  and,  in  not  a  few  instances  playing  cards  when 
business  was  slack  in  the  shop.  A  visit  to  Paris  would 
convince  the  working  classes  that  those  are  their  worst 
friends  who  attempt  to  divest  the  first  day  of  the  week  of 
that  holiness  which,  as  all  experience  proves,  affords  the 
only  security  for  rest  and  repose  to  the  sons  of  toil.— 
GUTHRIE. 


THE   MEANNESS  OF  THE,  SABBATH   BREAKERS. 

How  unutterly  mean  is  the  behavior  of  the  Sabbath 
breaker.     It  is  as  though  a  man  had  a  large  estate,  and  he 

259 


260  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

said  to  his  employes:  "Now,  I  will  give  you  to-day  for 
yourselves — you  need  not  toil  a  particle  ;  "  and  then,  at  the 
close  of  day,  the  employer  should  find  out  that  they 
had  been  stealing  out  of  the  corn-crib,  not  content  with  the 
rest  he  had  given  them.  Just  so  those  do  who,  when  God 
tells  them  to  rest,  and  gives  them  an  opportunity  to  rest, 
employ  the  hours  for  their  own  enjoyment,  neglecting,  or 
entirely  overlooking  the  fact  that  God  all  the  time  on  the 
Sabbath  day  is  just  as  busy  for  them  as  He  is  on  any  other 
day.  Their  corn  is  growing  just  as  rapidly  on  Sabbath  as 
on  Monday,  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday,  Friday  or 
Saturday.  Their  bonds  and  mortgages  are  bringing  just 
as  much  interest.  Although  God  has  given  them  a  day  of 
rest,  He  has  not  taken  His  hand  from  their  worldly  inter- 
ests.— TALMAGE. 


HILLS  OF  LIGHT  AND  JOY. 

Through  the  week  we  go  down  into  the  valleys  of  care 
and  shadow.  Our  Sabbaths  should  be  hills  of  light  and 
joy  in  God's  presence;  and,  as  time  rolls  by,  we  shall  go 
on  from  mountain  top  to  mountain  top,  till  at  last  we  catch 
the  glory  of  the  gate,  and  enter  in,  to  go  no  more  out  for- 
ever. 


ADDRESSED  TO'    THE     CHURCH     AT    A     WEDNESDAY     NIGHT 

LECTURE. 

Let  us  interrupt  the  flow  of  the  week,  and  rear  up  an- 
other Sabbath  in  the  middle  of  it.  And,  as  those  who 
swim  mighty  streams  do  stop,  panting,  to  rest  upon  some 
midway  rock  ere  they  plunge  again  into  the  tide,  so  let  us 
rest  here,  lifted  up  above  the  tumult  of  earthly  care,  and 
gain  strength,  before  we  go  down  into  the  dark  ford,  for 
the  farther  shore — the  Sabbath. — BEECHER. 


SABBATH.  261 

SABBATH  VIEWS  OF  HEAVEN. 

When  a  gentlemau  was  inspecting  a  house  in  Newcastle, 
with  a  view  to  buying  it  as  a  residence,  the  landlord  took 
him  to  the  upper  window,  expatiated  on  the  extensive 
prospect,  and  added,  "You  can  see  Durham  Cathedral 
from  this  window  on  a  Sunday."  "  Why  on  Sunday  ahove 
any  other  day  ? "  inquired  our  friend,  with  some  degree  of 
surprise.  The  reply  was  conclusive  enough.  "Because 
on  that  day  there  is  no  smoke  from  those  tall  chimneys." 
Blessed  is  the  Sabbath  to  us  when  the  earth-smoke  of  care 
and  turmoil  no  longer  beclouds  our  view;  then  can  our 
souls  full  often  behold  the  goodly  land,  and  the  city  of  the 
New  Jerusalem. — SPURGEON. 


SELF-DENIAL. 


"  Whosoever  will  come  after  me,  let  hint  deny  himself,  and  take 
up  his  cross  and  follow  Me." — Mark  viii:  34. 


Would'st  thou  inherit  life  with  Christ  on  high?     . 

Then  count  the  cost  and  know 

That  here  on  earth  below 

Thou  needs  must  suffer  with  thy  Lord,  and  die. 

We  reach  that  gain,  to  which  all  else  is  loss, 

But  through  the  cross ! 

— SIMON  DACH. 


RELIGION   REQUIRES   SELF-DENIAL. 

Religion,  in  one  sense,  is  a  life  of  self-denial,  just  as  hus- 
bandry, in  one  sense  is  a  life  of  death.  You  go  and  bury 
a  seed  and  that  is  husbandry;  but  you  bury  one,  that  you 
may  reap  a  hundred  fold.  Self-denial  does  not  belong  to 
religion  as  characteristic  of  it;  it  belongs  to  human  life. 
The  lower  nature  must  always  be  denied  when  you  are 
trying  to  reach  a  higher  sphere.  It  is  no  more  necessary 
to  be  self-denying  to  be  a  Christian,  than  it  is  to  be  an 
artist,  or  to  be  an  honest  man,  or  to  be  a  man  at  all,  in 
distinction  from  a  brute.  Of  all  joyful,  smiling,  ever- 
laughing  experiences,  there  are  none  like  those  which 
spring  from  true  religion. — BEECHER. 


OUR  EXAMPLE   OF   SELF-DENIAL. 

Alexander,  when  his  army  grew  sluggish  because  laden 
with  the  spoils  of  their  enemies,  to  free  them  from  this  in- 
cumbrance,  commanded  all  his  own  basreafire  to  be  set  on 

OO     D 

262 


SELF-DENIAL.  263 

fire,  that  when  they  saw  the  king  himself  devote  his  rich 
treasures  to  the  flames  they  might  not  murmur  if  their 
mite  and  pittance  were  consumed  also.  So,  if  Christ  had 
taught  us  contempt  of  the  world,  and  had  not  given  us  an 
instance  of  it  in  His  own  person,  His  doctrine  had  been 
less  powerful  and  effective.  But  what  an  example  we  now 
find  in  Him,  since  he  had  not  where  to  lay  His  head  in  life, 
nor  a  rag  to  cover  Him  in  death,  nor  anything  but  a  bor- 
rowed grave  in  burial.  What  manner  of  persons  ought  we 
all  to  be  in  unselfishness  when  we  have  such  a  Lord!  He 
hath  not  said  to  us  in  matters  of  self-denial,  "Take  up  thy 
cross  and  go,"  but  "Come,  take  up  thy  cross  and  follow 
Me."  Well  may  the  soldiers  endure  hardness  when  the 
King  himself  roughs  it  among  us,  and  suffers  more  than 
the  meanest  private  in  our  ranks. — SPURGEON. 


SELF-DENYING   LIVES. 

How  grand  it  is,  amid  the  selfishness  of  the  world,  to 
find  such  generous  deeds!  The  Moravian  missionaries 
were  told  that  they  could  not  enter  the  lazarettos  where  the 
lepers  were  dying  unless  they  stayed  there.  "  Then,"  they 
said,  "We  will  go  and  stay  there."  They  went  in  to  nurse 
the  sick  and  perished.  You  have  read  the  life  of  pure- 
hearted  Elizabeth  Fry,  toiling  among  the  degraded.  But 
the  full  biographies  of  the  world's  martyrs  will  never  be 
written.  The  firemen  in  our  cities  who  have  rescued  peo- 
ple from  blazing  buildings;  the  sailors  who  have  helped  the 
passengers  off  the  wreck,  themselves  perishing;  the  nurses 
who  have  waited  upon  the  sick  in  yellow  fever  and  cholera 
hospitals,  and  sunk  down  to  death  from  exhaustion;  the 
Christian  men  who,  on  the  battle  field,  have  administered 
to  the  fallen  amid  rattling  canister  and  bursting  shell;  the 
Christian  women  who  have  gone  down  through  haunts  of 


264  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BE  A  UTY. 

shame  on  errands  of  mercy,  defended  by  no  human  arm, 
but  looked  after  by  that  God  who,  with  his  lightnings, 
would  have  struck  to  hell  any  who  dared  to  do  them  harm! 
— TALMAGE. 

Selfishness  is  sin.  Self-indulgence  is  criminal.  A  soul 
filled  with  self  has  no  room  for  God;  and  like  the  inn  of 
Bethlehem,  given  to  lodge  meaner  guests,  a  heart  full  of 
pride  has  no  chamber,  within  which  Christ  may  be  born 
"in  us  the  hope  of  glory."  How  rare  a  virtue  is  self  sac- 
rifice! What  can  be  more  sad  than  to  see  the  value  a 
woman  sets  on  trinkets,  the  pride  with  which  she  shows 
and  wears  her  jewels,  while  Jesus  has  no  preciousness  in 
her  eyes?  What  fools  people  are!  They  set  more  value 
on  some  glittering  bits  of  glass  or  stone  than  on  a  crown 
of  glory! — they  care  more  in  this  dying  body  for  the  per- 
ishable casket  than  for  the  immortal  jewel  which  it  holds. 

— GUTHRIE. 


SIN. 

"  To  him  that  knowtth  to  do  good,  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him  it  is 
sin" — James  iv:  17. 


Sin  is  the  living  worm,  the  lasting  fire ; 
Hell  soon  would  lose  its  heat,  could  sin  expire. 

—JOHN 


LITTLE   SINS. 

It  is  high  time  to  get  out  of  your  sins.  You  say,  "I 
have  committed  no  great  transgressions."  But  are  you  not 
aware  that  your  life  has  been  sinful  ?  The  snow  comes 
down  on  the  Alps  flake  by  flake,  and  it  is  so  light  that  you 
may  hold  it  on  the  tip  of  your  finger  without  feeling  any 
weight;  but  the  flakes  gather;  they  compact,  until  some  day 
a  traveler's  foot  starts  the  slide,  and  it  goes  down  in  an 
avalanche,  crushing  to  death  the  villagers.  So  the  sins  of 
your  youth,  and  the  sins  of  your  manhood,  and  the  sins  of 
your  womanhood  may  have  seemed  only  slight  inaccura- 
cies, or  trifling  divergences  from  the  right — so  slight  that 
they  are  hardly  worth  mentioning,  but  they  have  been  pil- 
ing up  and  piling  up,  packing  together  and  packing  to- 
gether, until  they  make  a  mountain  of  sin,  and  one  more 
step  of  your  foot  in  the  wrong  direction  may  slide  down 
upon  you  an  avalanche  of  ruin  and  condemnation. — TAL- 
MAGE. 

SIN  IS  CRUEL. 

Sin  is  not  only  strong  to  seduce,  but  heartless  to  sustain 
its  victims.  It  will  exhaust  your  means,  teach  you  to 

265 


266  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  3EAUTY. 

despise  the  God  of  your  fathers-,  and  then  when  the  inevi- 
table disaster  of  wickedness  begins  to  overwhelm  you,  it 
-will  abandon  whom  it  has  debauched.  When  at  length, 
death  gnaws  at  your  bones,  and  knocks  at  your  heart, 
when  staggering  and  worn  out,  your  courage  wasted,  your 
hope  gone,  your  purity,  and  long,  long  ago  your  peace — 
will  he  who  first  enticed  your  steps  serve  your  extremity 
with  one  office  of  kindness  ?  Will  he  stay  your  head,  cheer 
your  dying  agony  with  one  word  of  hope,  or  light  the  way 
for  your  coward  steps  to  the  grave,  or  weep  when  you  are 
gone,  or  send  one  pitiful  scrap  to  your  desolate  family  ? 
What  reveler  wears  crape  for  a  dead  drunkard  ?  What 
gang  of  gamblers  ever  intermitted  a  game  for  the  death  of 
a  companion?  What  harlot  weeps  for  a  harlot?  What 
debauchee  mourns  for  a  debauchee  ?  They  would  carouse 
at  your  funeral,  and  gamble  at  your  funeral.  If  one  flush 
more  of  pleasure  were  to  be  had  by  it,  they  would  drink 
shame  and  ridicule  to  your  memory  out  of  your  own  skull, 
and  roar  in  bacchanal  revelry  over  your  damnation!  Oh! 
the  cruel  heartlessness  of  sin! — BEECHER. 


THE   POWER   OF   A   SINGLE   SIN. 

There  was  but  one  crack  in  the  lantern,  and  the  wind  has 
found  it  out  and  blown  out  the  candle.  How  great  a  mis- 
chief one  unguarded  point  of  character  may  cause  us.  One 
spark  blew  up  the  magazine,  and  shook  the  whole  country 
for  miles  around.  One  leak  sank  the  vessel  and  drowned 
all  on  board.  One  wound  may  kill  the  body;  one  sin 
destroy  the  soul.— SPURGEON. 


SINS  ACCUMULATE. 

Sins  seldom  come  alone;  where  there  is  room  for  one 
devil,  seven  other  spirits  more  wicked  than  himself  will  find 


SIN.  267 

a  lodging.     We  may  say  of  sins  as  Longfellow  says  of 
birds  of  prey,  in  his  Song  of  Hiawatha.— 

' '  Never  stoops  the  soaring  vulture 
On  his  quarry  in  the  desert, 
On  the  sick  or  wounded  bison, 
But  another  vulture  watching, 
From  his  high  aerial  look-out 
Sees  the  downward  plunge  and  follows, 
And  a  third  pursues  the  second, 
Coming  from  the  invisible  ether, 
First  a  speck,  and  then  a  vulture, 
Till  the  air  is  dark  with  pinions." 

— IBID. 

SALVATION  FROM   SIN. 

As  certain  as  we  are  lost  in  sin,  so  certain  can  Christ  save 
us  from  our  sins.  He  will  save  us  if  we  will  let  Him.  A 
story  is  told  of  Rowland  Hill,  the  great  preacher.  Lady 
Ann  Erskinewas  passing  by  in  her  carriage,  and  she  asked 
her  coachman  who  that  was  that  was  drawing  such  a  large 
assembly.  He  replied  that  it  was  Rowland  Hill.  "I  have 
heard  a  good  deal  about  him,"  she  said,  "drive  up  near 
the  crowd."  Mr.  Hill  soon  saw  her,  and  saw  that  she  be- 
longed to  the  aristocracy.  He  stopped  all  at  once  in  the 
middle  of  his  discourse  and  said,  "  My  friends,  I  have 
something  for  sale."  Thfs  astonished  his  hearers.  "Yes, 
I  have  something  for  sale;  it  is  the  soul  of  Lady  Ann  Ers- 
kine.  Is  there  any  one  here  who  will  bid  for  her  sou!  ( 
Ah,  do  I  hear  a  bid  ?  Who  bids  ?  Satan  bids.  Satan, 
what  will  you  give  for  her  soul  ?  '  I  will  give  riches, 
honor,  and  pleasure.'  But  stop;  do  I  hear  another  bid? 
Yes,  Jesus  Christ  bids.  Jesus,  what  will  you  give  for  her 
soul?  '  I  will  give  eternal  life.'  Lady  Ann  Erskine,  you 
have  heard  the  two  bids,  which  will  you  take  ? "  And 
Lady  Ann  fell  on  her  knees,  and  cried  out,  "I  will  have 
Jesus."  So  may  it  be  with  you. — MOODY. 


268  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

A   DISEASE   OF  THE   HEART. 

Like  snow  drift  when  it  has  leveled  the  church-yard 
mounds,  and  glistening  in  the  winter  sun,  lies  so  pure  and 
fair  and  beautiful  above  the  dead,  who  fester  and  rot  below, 
a  very  plausible  profession,  wearing  the  semblance  of  inno- 
cence, may  conceal  from  human  eyes  the  foulest  heart-cor- 
ruption. The  grass  grows  green  upon  a  mountain  that 
holds  a  volcano  in  its  bowels.  Behind  the  rosy  cheek,  and 
soft  lustrous  eye  of  beauty,  how  often  does  there  lurk  a 
deadly  disease,  the  Headliest  of  all!  Even  so  sin  has  its 
seat  within.  It  is  a  disease  of  the  heart,  and  the  worst  of 
all  heart  complaints. 

The  most  advanced  saint  is  not  altogether  free  from  the 
bondage  of  sin.  Sin  is  the  greatest  folly,  and  the  sinner 
the  greatest  fool  in  the  world.  Think  of  a  man  purchasing 
momentary  pleasure  at  the  cost  of  endless  pain.  Think 
of  a  dying  man  living  as  if  he  were  never  to  die.  Think 
of  a  man  risking  eternity  on  the  uncertain  chance  of  sur- 
viving another  year. — GUTHRIE. 


THE  EFFECTS  OF  SIN. 

Have  you  ever  watched  the  deteriorating  effects  of  sin 
even  upon  the  personal  appearance  f  Take  a  youth  of  ex- 
treme beauty,  and  let  him,  little  by  little,  be  led  into  wicked 
practices;  in  proportion  as  he  is  so  led,  will  the  register  of 
his  descent  be  written  upon  his  face,  and  upon  his  whole 
attitude  and  manners.  Quite  unperceptibly,  I  admit,  but 
with  awful  exactness  and  depth.  The  eyes,  once  so  clear 
and  steady  in  look,  will  be  marked  by  suspicion,  uncer- 
tainty, or  timidity  of  movement;  their  glances  will  not  be 
like  sun  rays  darting  through  thick  foliage,  but  rather  like 
ft  dark  lantern  turned  on  skillfully  to  see  whatis  happening 
here  and  there,  but  throwing  no  light  on  the  man  who  holds 


SfN.  269 

it.  And  strange  lines  will  be  woven  around  the  mouth; 
and  the  lips,  so  well  cut,  so  guileless  and  generous,  will  he 
tortured  into  ugliness  and  sensual  enlargement;  and  the 
voice,  once  so  sweet,  so  ringing,  the  very  music  of  a  char- 
acter unstained  and  fearless,  will  contract  some  mocking 
tones,  and  give  itself  up  to  a  rude  laughter,  partly  deceitful 
and  partly  defiant.  All  this  will  not  happen  in  one  day. 
Herein  is  the  subtlety  of  evil.  If  you  do  not  see  the  youth 
for  years  you  may  be  shocked  when  you  miss  the  fine  sim- 
plicity and  noble  bearing  which  you  associated  with  the 
name.  It  is  the  spot  of  leprosy  on  a  forehead  once  so  open 
and  unwrinkled,  and  it  will  grow  and  spread  and  deepen 
until  there  will  be  no  place  fit  for  him  but  the  silent  and 
unhospitable  wilderness. — PARKER. 


THE  CHURCH. 


"  Christ  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself  for  it,  that  he  might 
sanctify  and  cleanse  it,  with  the  washing  of  the  water  by  the  word, 
that  he  might  present  it  to  himself  a  glorious  church''1 — Eph. 
v.  25-27. 

"Glorious  things  of  thee  are  spoken, 

Zion,  city  of  our  God; 
He,  whose  word  cannot  be  broken 

Formed  thee  for  his  own  abode ; 
On  the  rock  of  ages  founded, 

What  can  shake  thy  sure  repose? 
With  salvation's  wall  surrounded, 

Thou  may'st  smile  at  all  thy  foes." 

— JOHN  NEWTON. 


PRESENT  FOES  TO   FIGHT. 

The  church  ought  to  be  the  leader,  the  inspirer  of  the 
age.  It  is  all  folly  for  us  to  be  discussing  old  issue — ar- 
raigning Nero,  hanging  Absalom,  striking  the  Philistines 
with  Shamgar's  ox-goad — when  all  about  us  are  iniquities  to 
be  slain — a  corrupt  legislature,  a  rotten  judiciary,  and  a 
whiskey  ring  ! — TALMAGE. 


WHY  CONDEMN  THE  CHURCH? 

Do  you  ask,  "Why  not  do  away  with  the  church,  if  its 
members  make  so  many  mistakes  ? "  Would  you  take  away 
the  light-house  because  careless  mariners,  through  wrong 
observations,  run  their  ships  high  and  dry  upon  the  shore? 
U  ould  you  put  out  the  lamps  in  your  house  because  moths 
and  millers  burn  their  wings  in  it?  What  would  the  chil- 
dren do  ?  — BEECHER. 

270 


THE  CHURCH.  271 

DO   NOT  MAGNIFY   TRIFLES. 

If  a  man  should  fire  a  house  to  destroy  the  mice  in  it,  we 
should  think  him  to  be  fairly  mad.  Yet  those  who  con- 
sider themselves  to  be  reasonable  men  will  set  the  church 
in  a  blaze  about  the  merest  trifle.  Meeting  after  meeting 
will  be  called,  and  angry  discussions  provoked,  and  holy 
work  overturned  about  the  smallest  mistake  of  the  preacher, 
on  the  minutest  fault  of  the  deacon.  One  would  think 
that  heaven  itself  were  endangered,  and  yet  it  turns  out  to 
be  a  question  of  infinitessimal  importance.  Societies  which 
were  doing  great  service  have  often  been  broken  up  by  the 
crazy  whimsies  of  good  brethern,  who  made  much  ado 
about  nothing,  and  did  great  harm  in  trying  to  do  a  little 
good.  Aim  at  reformation,  not  at  desolation.  The  church 
has  been  thought  to  be  sick,  and  fools  have  doctored  it  till 
they  brought  it  to  death's  door  by  their  poisons. — SPUR- 
GEON. 


SOMETHING  WRONG. 

Nine-tenths,  at  least,  of  the  church  members  never  think 
of  speaking  for  Christ.  If  they  see  a  man,  perhaps  a  near 
relative,  going  right  down  to  ruin,  going  rapidly,  they 
never  think  of  speaking  to  him  about  his  sinful  course,  and 
of  seeking  to  win  him  to  Christ.  Now  certainly  there  must 
be  something  wrong,  and  yet  when  you  talk  with  them, 
you  find  they  have  faith,  and  you  can  not  say  they 
are  not  children  of  God;  but  they  have  not  the 
power,  they  have  not  the  liberty,  they  have  not  the  love 
that  real  disciples  of  Christ  should  have.  A  great  many 
people  are  thinking  that  the  church  needs  new  measures, 
that  it  needs  new  buildings,  that  it  needs  new  organs,  that 
it  needs  new  choirs,  and  all  these  new  things.  That  is  not 
what  the  church  of 'God  needs  to-day.  It  is  the  old  power 
that  the  Apostles  had— that  is  what  we  want.— MOODY. 


272  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

He  has  but  one  church;  for  the  second  Adam,  like  the 
first,  is  the  husband  of  one  wife.  And  just  as  the  church 
cannot  have  two  heads,  neither  can  the  head  have  two 
bodies;  for,  as  that  body  were  a  monster  which  had  more 
heads  than  one,  not  less  monstrous  were  that  form  where 
one  head  was  united  to  two  separate  bodies.  Of  all  these 
churches,  then,  each  claiming  to  be  cast  in  the  true  gospel 
mould, — that  with  consecrated  bishops,  this  with  simple 
presbyters,  this  other  without  either;  that  administering 
baptism  to  infants  as  well  as  adults,  this  only  to  adults; 
that  robed  in  a  ritual  of  many  forms,  this  thinking  that 
religion,  like  beauty,  when  unadorned,  is  adorned  the 
most — which  is  Christ's  body,  the  Lamb's  wife  ?  which 
are  we  to  receive  as  the  favorite  of  heaven  ?  Of  which  does 
God  say  as  he  said  of  David  among  rival  brethren,  "Arise, 
annoint  her,  for  this  is  she  ?"  Of  none  of  them.  Christ  has 
a  church,  but  it  is  none  of  these.  In  explanation  of  a  re- 
mark which  may  surprise  some,  and  is  fitted  to  teach  all  of 
us  humility  and  charity,  I  observe  :  that  Christ's  body 
which  is  not  identical  with  any  one  church,  is  formed  of 
all  true  believers,  to  whatever  denomination  they  may  be- 
long. — GUTHEIE. 


THE  SOUL  IMMORTAL. 


"And  man  became  a  living  sou/." — Gen.  11:7. 
The  witnesses  axe  heard:  the  cause  is  o'er. 
Let  conscience  file  the  sentence  in  her  court, 
Dearer  than  deeds  that  half  a  realm  convey. 
Thus  sealed  by  truth,  the  authentic  record  runs, 
Thus  know,  all— infidels!  (unapt  to  know!) 
'Tis  immortality  your  nature  solves; 
'Tis  immortality  deciphers  man. 
And  opens  all  the  mysteries  of  his  make. 
Without  it,  half  his  instincts  are  a  riddle; 
Without  it,  all  his  virtues  are  a  dream. 
His  very  crimeb  attest  his  dignity ; 
His  sateless  thirst  for  pleasure,  gold  and  fame, 
Declares  him  born  for  blessings  infinite. 

—EDWARD  YOUNG. 


THE   IMMORTALITY   OF   INFLUENCE. 

It  is  the  privilege  of  every  man  to  live  more  in 
the  future  than  he  does  in  the  present.  John  Wesley's 
name  is  a  thousand  fold  greater  to-day  than  it  AVM.S  when  he 
was  living.  He  still  lives.  He  lives  in  the  lives  of  thous- 
ands and  millions  of  his  followers. 

Martin  Luther  lives  more  to-day  than  he  did  centuries 
ago,  when  he  was  Hying  in  Germany.  He  only  lived  one 
life  for  a  while.  But,  now,  look  at  the  myriads  of  lives  he 
is  living.  He  is  dead  in  the  sight  of  the  world,  but  "his 
works  do  follow  him."  He  still  lives. 

The  voice  of  John  the  Baptist  is  ringing  through  the 
world  to-day,  although  nearly  nineteen  hundred  years  have 
passed  away.  Herod  thought  when  he  was  beheading  Him 
he  was  hushing  His  voice,  but  it  is  ringing  all  through  the 
earth  to-dav.  John  the  Baotist  lives,  because  hi-  lived  for 

273 


i'  7  4  GEMS  OP  TR  UTH  AND  BE  A  UTY. 

God.  If  a  man  just  gets  outside  of  himself  and  begins  to 
work  for  God,  his  name  will  be  immortal.  Why,  you  may 
go  to  Scotland  to-day,  and  you  will  find  the  influence  of 
John  Knox  over  every  mountain.  It  seems  that  you  can 
almost  feel  the  breath  of  that  man's  prayer  in  Scotland  to- 
day. His  influence  still  lives. — MOODY. 

STARS   SYMBOLS  OF   IMMORTALITY. 

The  same  stars  that  look  down  on  us  looked  down  upon 
the  Chaldean  shepherds.  The  meteor  that  I  saw  flashing 
across  the  sky  the  other  night,  I  wonder  if  it  was  not  the 
same  one  that  pointed  down  to  where  Jesus  lay  in  a  man 
ger,  and  if,  having  pointed  out  his  birth-place,  it  has  ever 
since  been  wandering  through  the  heavens,  watching  to  see 
how  the  world  would  treat  him.  When  Adam  awoke  in 
the  garden,  in  the  cool  of  the  day,  he  saw  coming  out 
through  the  dusk  of  the  evening  the  same  worlds  that 
greeted  us  on  our  way  to  church  to-night. 

In  Independence  Hall  is  an  old  cracked  bell  that  sounded 
the  signature  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  You  can 
not  ring  it  now;  but  this  great  chime  of  silvery  bells  that 
strike  in  the  dome  of  night  ring  out  with  as  sweet  a  tone  as 
when  God  swung  them  at  creation.  Look  up  to-uight,  and 
know  that  the  white  lillies  that  bloom  in  the  hanging  gar- 
dens of  our  King  are  century  plants — not  blooming  once 
in  a  hundred  years,  but  through  all  the  centuries. 

The  star  at  which  the  mariner  looks  to-night  was  the 
light  by  which  the  ships  of  Tarshish  was  guided  across  the 
Mediterranean,  and  the  Venetian  flotilla  found  its  way  into 
Lepanto.  Their  armor  is  as  bright  to-night  as  when  in 
ancient  battle,  the  stars  in  their  courses  fought  against 
Sisera.  To  the  ancients,  stars  were  the  symbols  of  eter- 
nity. But  here  the  figure  breaks  down — not  in  defeat,  but 
on  the  majesties  of  the  judgment.  The  stars  shall  not 


THE  SOUL  IMMORTAL.  275 

shine  forever.  The  Bible  says  they  shall  fall  like  autumn 
leaves.  It  is  almost  impossible  for  a  man  to  tako  in  a 
courser  going  a  mile  in  three  minutes;  but  God  shall  take 
in  the  worlds,  flying  a  hundred  thousand  miles  an  hour  by 
one  pull  of  his  finger.  As,  when  the  factory  band  slips  at 
nightfall  from  the  main  wheel,  all  the  smaller  wheels  slacken 
their  speed  and  with  slower  and  slower  motion  they  turn 
until  they  come  to  a  full  stop;  so  this  great  machinery  of 
the  universe,  wheel  within  wheel,  making  revolutions  of 
appalling  speed,  shall,  by  the  touch  of  God's  hand,  slip  the 
band  of  present  law,  and  slacken,  and  stop.  That  is  what 
will  be  the  matter  with  the  mountains.  The  chariots  in 
which  they  ride  shall  halt  so  suddenly  that  the  kings  shall 
be  thrown  out.  Star  after  star  shall  be  carried  out  to 
burial  amid  the  funeral  torches  of  burning  worlds.  Con- 
stellations shall  throw  ashes  on  their  head,  and  all  up  and 
down  the  highways  of  space  shall  be  mourning,  mourning, 
mourning,  because  the  worlds  are  dead.  But  Christian 
workers  shall  never  quit  their  thrones — they  shall  reign 
forever  and  ever.  Forever  the  river  of  joy  flows  on;  for- 
ever the  jubilee  progresses — forever,  forever. — TALMAGE. 

THE   GRAIN   OF  WHEAT. 

On  unrolling  some  of  the  old  Egyptian  mummies,  you 
will  find  wheat  three  thousand  years  old.  The  Greek  em- 
pire has  risen  and  gone;  the  Roman  empire  has  been  riven 
and  its  dust  has  been  blown  away,  and  civil, zation  has  de- 
veloped since  the  careful  attendants  rolled  up  that  wln-:it ; 
it  has  lain  three  thousand  years  doing  nothing  but  keeping 
unconscious  company  with  hideous  mummies;  and  yet 
when  taken  out  and  planted  in  a  field  it  goes  to  work, 
comes  up,  develops  a  stem,  and  brings  forth  fruit  as  though 
it  had  not  taken  a  wink  of  sleep.  And  if  wheat  will  keep 
as  long  as  that,  I  am  sure  that  men  will.  Though  they  are 


276  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

for  years  wrapped  up,  yet  when  God  unrolls  them  the  seed 
will  come  up  and  the  germ  grow  again.  Then  let  us  take 
a  broader  view.  Do  not  think  of  life  as  in  the  compass  of 
a  pint  or  a  gill.  Measure  existence  on  a  broader  scale. 
How  intinjte  the  space  !  How  enormous  the  duration ! 
How  transcendantthe  capacity  which  belongs  to  the  human 
soul ! — BEECHER. 


IMMORTALITY   COMMON  TO   CHRISTIAN  AND  HEATHEN  MINDS. 

Why  do  these  weeping  Greeks  approach  the  dead  man, 
as  he  lies  on  his  bier  for  burial,  and  open  his  mouth  to  put 
in  an  obolus  ?  That  coin  is  passage  money  for  the  surly 
ferryman  who  rows  the  spirit  over  Styx's  stream.  And 
why,  in  that  forest  grave,  around  which  plumed  and 
painted  warriors  stand  unmoved  and  unmovable  as  statues, 
do  they  bury  with  the  body  of  the  Indian  chief  his  canoe 
and  bow  and  arrow.  He  goes  to  follow  the  chase  and  hunt 
the  deer  in  the  spectre  land,  where  the  Great  Spirit  lives, 
and  the  spirits  of  his  fathers  have  gone  before  him.  How 
easy  it  is  to  teach  in  these  customs  and  beliefs  a  sort  of 
rude  copy  of  the  words  Life  and  Immortality.  I  shall  not 
die  but  live. — GUTHRIE. 

THE  CHRISTIAN   OUT   OF   DEATH'S   REACH. 

The  time  will  come  when  men  will  laugh  at  death.     We 
shall  one  day  get  such  a  view  of  the  universe  that  we  shall 
look  down  upon  death,  and  say,   "O  death,  where  is  thy 
How  so?     Jesus  Christ  abolished  death.     He 
brought  life  and  immortality  to  light.     If  we  believe  in 
lira,  death  will  to  us  be  no  longer  a  spectre,  a  ghost,  an 
ugly  guest  to  the  house,  sucking  out  our  blood,  and  dark- 
ening our  future.     It  will  then  become  a  swinging  door,— 
and,  as  it  swings,  we  shall  pass  in  to  light,  to  music,  to 


THE  SOUL  IMMORTAL.  277 

rest.  Death  will  always  be  a  frightful  thing  to  the  man 
who  has  no  Savior.  He  may  have  lived  himself  into  that 
measure  of  beasthood  that  will  not  confess  terror.  I  never 
knew  of  a  felled  ox  saying,  "Death  is  very  terrible."  So 
there  are  men  who  have  lived  themselves  down  so  beast- 
ward  and  devil  ward  that  they  hardly  know  death  from  life. 
But  the  man  who  is  in  Christ,  his  life  is  above  the  reach  of 
death.  When  the  body  crumbles  and  falls  down,  to  get 
up  no  more,  the  soul  is  a  guest  in  Heaven.  A  guest  ? 
Nay,  —he  is  a  child  at  Home  ! — PABKER. 


TONGUE. 

1  Refrain  thy  tongue  from  eril" — I  Pet.  Hi:  IO 


"Five  things  observe  with  care: 

Of  whom  you  speak, 

To  whom  yon  speak, 

And  how,  and  when*  and  where." 


"WHISPERS." 

When  Paul  called  the  list  of  the  world's  villainy,  he  put 
in  the  midst  of  the  roll  ''Whisperers."  They  are  so-called 
because  they  generally  speak  undervoice,  and  in  a  confi- 
dential way,  their  hand  to  the  side  of  the  mouth,  acting  as 
a  funnel  to  keep  the  precious  information  from  wandering 
into  the  wrong  ear.  They  speak  softly,  not  because  they 
have  lack  of  lung  force,  or  because  they  are  overpowered 
with  the  spirit  of  gentleness,  but  because  they  want  to 
escape  the  consequences  of  defamation.  If  no  one  hears 
but  the  person  whispered  unto,  and  the  speaker  be  ar- 
raigned, he  can  deny  the  whole  thing,  for  whisperers  are 
always  first-class  liars  !  Some  people  whisper  because  they 
are  hoarse  from  a  cold,  or  because  they  wish  to  convey 
some  useful  information  without  disturbing  others,  but  the 
slanderer  gives  muffled  utterance  from  sinister  and  de- 
praved motive,  and  sometimes  you  can  only  hear  the  sibi- 
lant sound  as  the  letter  "S"  drops  from  the  tongue  into 
the  listening  ear,  the  brief  hiss  of  the  serpent  as  it  projects 
its  venom. 

From  the  frequency  with  which  Paul  speaks  of  them  un- 

278 


TONGUE.  279 

der  different  titles,  I  conclude  that  he  must  have  suffered 
somewhat  from  them.  His  personal  appearance  M-:IS  de- 
fective, and  that  made  him  perhaps  the  target  of  this  ridi- 
cule. And  besides  that,  he  was  a  bachelor,  persisting  in 
his  celibacy  down  into  the  sixties,  indeed,  all  the  w:iy 
through j  and  some  having  failed  in  their  connubial  de- 
signs upon  him,  the  little  missionary  was  put  under  the 
raking  fires  of  these  whisperers.  He  was  no  doubt  a  rare 
morsel  for  their  scandalization;  and  he  cannot  keep  his 
patience  any  longer,  and  he  lays  hold  of  these  miscreants 
of  the  tongue,  and  gives  them  a  very  hard  setting  down  in 
the  text  among  the  scoundrels  and  murderers. 

They  are  to  be  found  everywhere,  these  whisperers.  I 
think  their  paradise  is  a  country  village  of  about  one  or 
two  thousand  people,  where  everybody  knows  everybody 
else.  But  they  are  also  to  be  found  in  our  cities.  They 
have  a  prying  disposition.  They  look  into  the  basement 
windows  at  the  tables  of  their  neighbors,  and  can  tell  just 
what  they  have  to  eat,  morning  and  night.  They  can  see 
as  far  through  a  key-hole  as  other  people  can  see  with  the 
door  wide  open.  They  can  hear  conversation  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  room.  The  world  to  them  is  a  whispering 
gallery. — TALMAGE. 


UNKIND   WORDS   LIKE   NEEDLES. 

I  saw  in  the  museum  at  Venice  an  instrument  with  which 
one  of  the  old  Italian  tyrants  was  wont  to  shoot  poisoned 
needles  at  the  objects  of  his  wanton  malignity.  I  thought 
of  gossips,  backbiters,  and  secret  slanderers,  and  wished 
that  their  mischievous  devices  might  come  to  a  speedy  end. 
Their  weapons  of  inuendo,  shrug,  and  whispers,  appear  to 
be  insignificant  as  needles,  but  the  venom  which  they  in- 
stil is  deadly  to  many  a  reputation.— SPURGEON. 


280  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

One  of  our  ancient  nobility  had  inscribed  over  his  castle 
gate  these  words,  which  I  commend  to  all  persons  who  are 
thin-skinned  in  the  matter  of  private  gossip  or  public  wor- 
ship: 

THEY  SAY. 

WHAT  DO  THEY  SAY? 
LET  THEM  SAY. 

—IBID. 


A  DEADLY   SIN. 

Jesus  calls  a  slanderous  spirit  a  beam,  compared  with 
which  any  other  mistake  is  a  little  thin  splinter.  Here  is  a 
man  that  condemns  every  poor  creature  that  is  overtaken 
in  a  fault.  He  has  no  sympathy  with  such.  The  man 
took  a  glass  of  whisky  too  much,  lost  his  equilibrium,  was 
seen  in  a  reeling  state — that  circumstance  is  reported  to 
the  man  who  only  indulges  in  slanderous  criticism,  and  the 
man  immediately  calls  for  the  excommunication  of  the 
erring  brother  from  the  church,  not  knowing  that  he  him- 
self is  drunk,  but  not  with  wine,  drunk  with  a  hostile 
spirit,  drunk  with  uncharitableness. 

If  I  had  been  guilty  of  this  ineffable  meanness,  I  would 
preach  to  myself  as  loudlv  and  keenly  as  to  any  other 
man, — if  I  had  been  guilty  of  speaking  an  unkind  word 
about  any  human  creature,  or  suspecting  the  honesty  of 
any  man.  If  ever  I  had  said  about  a  brother  minister, 
"  He  is  a  fine  man  in  many  respects,  a  noble  creature,  kind, 
chivalrous,  grand  of  soul,  but — ,"  if  ever  I  have  said  that 
but,  God  will  punish  me  for  it. 

We  do  not  lay  hold  of  this  great  truth  sufficiently.  We 
think  that  a  little  slander  is  of  no  consequence.  To  be 
called  up  before  the  church  and  condemned  for  slander! 
Condemn  the  drunkard,  turn  out  the  man  who  by  infinite 
pressure  has  committed  some  sin — turn  him  out--certainly, 


TONGUE.  281 

and  never  go  after  him,  and  never  care  what  becomes  of 
him,  let  a  wolf  gnaw  him — only  get  rid  of  him: — if  we  go 
home  and  speak  unkindly  of  man,  woman,  or  child,  who  is 
the  great  sinner;  the  drunkard  we  have  just  expelled,  or 
the  closely-shaven,  highly-polished  Christian  who  does 
nothing  but  filch  his  neighbor's  good  name  ? — PARKER. 


WOMAN. 


"And  they  marveled  that  He  was  speaking  with  the  woman.1' 
—John  iv:  2f. 


"  0,  what  is  woman,  what  her  smile, 

Her  lip  of  love,  her  eye  of  light? 
What  is  she  if  her  lip  revile 

The  lowly  Jesus?    Love  may  write 
His  name  upon  her  marble  brow, 

Or  linger  in  her  curls  of  jet; 
The  bright  spring  flowers  may  scarcely  bow 

Benfath  her  step,  and  yet — and  yet, 
Without  that  meeker  grace,  she'll  be 

A  lighter  thing  than  vanity." 


WOMEN   AMONG   HEATHEN. 

Now  what  is  the  difference  between  the  condition  of 
women  there  and  here,  then  and  now  ?  The  only  differ- 
ence is  that  which  is  made  by  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God. 
O,  women!  To-day  you  would  have  been  hitched  to  the 
plough,  or  you  would  have  been  leaping  upon  the  funeral- 
pyre,  or  you  would  have  been  ground  under  the  heel  of 
man's  cruelty  and  insolence,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  in 
this  land  and  in  this  age  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  appeared, 
with  love  in  his  voice  and  omnipotence  in  his  arm.  and 
stood  above  this  grave  of  womanhood,  and  said,  "Come 
forth!  "  And  she  has  come  forth  in  the  dignity  of  a  Chris- 
tian hope. — TALMAGE. 


WOMEN  ON    THE   BATTLE-FIELD. 

There  never  was  a  better  illustration  given  of  how  well 

282 


WOMAN.  283 

women  can  help  in  the  camp,  if  she  tries  to,  than  during 
our  late  war.  Men  forged  the  cannon.  Men  fashioned 
the  musketry.  Men  manned  the  guns.  Men  unlimbered 
the  batteries.  Men  lifted  the  wounded  into  the  ambulances. 
But  women  scraped  the  lint.  Women  administered  the  cor- 
dials. Women  watched  the  dying  pillow.  Women  wrote 
the  last  messages  of  love  to  the  home  circle.  A  woman 
was  the  mourner;  the  only  mourner  at  many  a  burial. — 
IBID. 


A  LOST  WOMAN. 

Look  out  upon  that  fallen  creature  whose  gay  sally 
through  the  street  calls  out  the  significant  laugh  of  bad 
men,  the  pity  of  good  men,  and  the  horror  of  the  pure. 
Was  not  her  cradle  as  pure  as  ever  a  loved  infant  found  I 
Love  soothed  its  cries.  Sisters  watched  its  peaceful  sleep, 
and  a  mother  pressed  it  fondly  to  her  bosom.  Had  you 
afterwards  when  spring  flowers  covered  the  earth,  mid 
every  gale  was  odor,  and  every  sound  was  music,  seen  her 
fairer  than  the  lily  or  the  violet,  searching  them,  would 
you  not  have  said,  "Sooner  shall  the  rose  grow  poisonous 
than  she;  both  may  wither,  but  neither  corrupt."  And 
how  often,  at  evening,  did  she  clasp  her  tiny  hands  in 
prayer!  How  often  did  she  put  the  wonder- raising  ques- 
tions to  her  mother,  of  God,  and  heaven,  and  the  dead,  as 
if  she  had  seen  heavenly  things  in  a  vision!  As  young 
womanhood  advanced,  and  these  foreshadowed  graces 
ripened  to  the  bud  and  burst  into  bloom,  health  glowed  in 
her  cheek,  love  looked  from  her  eye,  and  purity  was  mi 
atmosphere  around  her.  Alas,  she  forsook  the  guide  of  l"-r 
youth!  Faint  thoughts  of  evil,  like  a  far-off  cloud  which 
the  sunset  gilds,  came  first;  nor  does  the  rosy  sunset  blush 
deeper  along  the  heaven,  than  her  cheek  at  the  first 
thought  of  evil.  Now,  ah,  mother,  and  thou  guiding  elder 


284  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

sister,  could  you  have  seen  the  lurking  spirit  embosomed 
in  that  cloud,  a  holy  prayer  might  have  broken  the  spell, 
:i  tear  have  washed  its  stain!  Alas,  they  saw  it  not!  She 
spoke  it  not;  she  was  forsaking  the  guide  of  her  youth.  She 
thinketh  no  more  of  heaven.  She  breatheth  no  more 
prayers.  She  hath  no  more  penitential  tears  to  shed,  she 
drops  the  bitter  tear  upon  the  cheek  of  despair, — then  her 
only  suitor.  Thou  hast  forsaken  the  covenant  of  thy  God. 
Go  down!  fall  never  to  rise!  Hell  opens  to  be  thy  home! 
— BEECHER. 

HEROISM  OF  CHRISTIAN  WOMEN. 

Both  before  and  since  the  days  when  they  ministered 
to  our  Lord,  followed  him  to  Calvary  with  their  tears, 
were  last  at  the  cross  and  first  at  the  sepulchre,  the  church 
has  exhibited  many  instances  of  high  and  holy  heroism  on 
the  part  of  women.  However  deserving  of  the  name  in 
ordinary  circumstances  where  martyr's  fires  were  fiercely 
burning,  and  scaffolds  flowed  with  blood,  and  prisons  over- 
flowed with  captives,  women  have  not  showed  themselves 
to  be  the  "  weaker  sex."  On  the  contrary,  when  adher- 
ence to  principle  involved  painful  sacrifices,  men  have 
found  such  support  in  gentle  women,  as  I  have  seen 
the  green  and  pliant  ivy  lend  the  wall  it  clung  to,  when 
that,  undermined  and  shaken,  was  ready  to  fall. — GUTHRIE. 

CHRIST  AND  WOMAN. 

You  cannot  get  rid  of  Christ.  You  exclude  Him  from 
your  schools  by  act  of  Parliament,  but,  passing  through 
the  midst  of  you,  He  says,  "Suffer  Me  and  the  children  to 
meet;  let  the  flowers  see  the  sun;  "  you  find  Him  in  statute- 
books,  in  pbilantrophic  institutions,  in  literature;  you  find 
Him  now  just  as  his  disciples  found  Him,  in  out-of-the-way 
places,  doing  out-of-the-way  things; — "they  marvelled  that 


WOMAN.  285 

he  spake  with  the  WOMAN," — the  eternal  marvel,  the 
eternal  hope!  He  is  speaking  with  the  woman  still;  speak- 
ing with  her  in  India,  in  China,  in  islands  far  out  upon  the 
sea;  presently  He  will  take  up  her  children  in  his  arms  and 
bless  them,  and  be  himself  as  the  child  that  is  born  unto 
every  woman. — PARKER. 


YOUTH. 


"  Remember  now  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth.'''' — Ecclcs. 
xi  i:  I . 


There  are  gains  for  all  our  losses, 

There  are  balms  for  all  our  pain, 
But  when  youth,  the  dream  departs, 
It  takes  something  from  our  hearts, 

And  it  never  comes  again 

— RICHARD  H.  STODDARD. 


Ah.  five  and  twenty  years  ago 

Had  I  but  planted  seed  of  trees, 
How  now  I  should  enjoy  their  shade, 

And  see  their  fruit  swing  in  the  breeze. 

— ORIENTAL. 


In  an  election,  the  first  votes  recorded  count  all  the  day 
long,  and  so  encourage  the  party  through  all  the  anxious 
hours  of  polling.  When  men  give  in  their  names  for  Jesus 
and  his  cause  in  the  morning  of  their  lives,  their  whole 
existence  influences  their  time,  and  their  encouragement  to 
the  cause  is  life  long.  Young  people,  remember  this! — 
SITRGEON. 


A  soul  that  comes  early  to  Christ  is  worth  more  to  itself 
and  to  the  world  than  a  soul  that  comes  late  to  Christ,  and 
not  so  miu-h  perhaps  because  it  wants  to  serve  God,  as 
because  it  is  afraid  it  will  go  to  hell. 

286 


YOUTH.  287 

NEGLIGENCE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

The  world  comes  to  the  child  when  it  is  in  the  April  of 
life,  and  sows  tares.  The  world  comes  along  again  when 
the  child  is  in  the  May  of  life,  and  sows  thistles.  Again 
in  the  fair  June  it  comes  and  sows  nox  vomica.  The  church 
meanwhile  folds  its  hands  and  waits  until  the  April  has 
gone,  and  the  May  has  gone,  and  June  and  July  have  gone, 
and  then  at  the  close  of  August  gets  in  earnest  and  says, 
"Now,  now  we  have  got  a  bag  of  good  wheat  here,  and  we 
must  sow  it  in  this  fresh  young  soil,  and  we  shall  have  a 
glorious  harvest!"  Will  it?  No,  no!  It  is  too  late! 
Everlastingly  too  late!  You  should  have  sowed  in  April 
and  in  May  the  good  seed  of  the  kingdom. 


PATIENCE   WITH   YOUTH. 

As  we  get  older,  do  not  let  us  be  affronted  if  young  men 
and  women  crowd  us  a  little.  We  will  have  had  our  day, 
and  we  must  let  them  have  theirs.  When  our  voices  get 
cracked,  let  us  not  snarl  at  those  who  can  warble.  When 
our  knees  are  stiffened,  let  us  have  patience  with  those  who 
go  fleet  as  the  deer.  Because  our  leaf  is  fading,  do  not  let 
us  despise  the  unfrosted. — TALMAGE. 

INSIDIOUS    TEMPTATIONS. 

The  young  are  seldom  tempted  to  outright  wickedness; 
evil  comes  to  them  as  an  enticement.  The  honest  generos- 
ity and  fresh  heart  of  youth  would  refuse  to  embrace  open 
meanness  and  undisguised  vice.  The  adversary  conforms 
his  wiles  to  their  nature.  He  tempts  them  to  the  ba 
deeds  by  beginning  with  innocent  ones,  gliding  to  more 
exceptionable,  and,  finally,  to  positively  wicked  ones.  All 
our  warnings  therefore  must  be  against  the  vernal  beauty 
of  vice!  Its  autumn  and  winter  none  wish. 


288  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

THE  DECEITFUL   NATURE   OF  SIN. 

The  face  of  pleasure  to  the  youthful  imagination  is  the 
face  of  an  angel,  a  paradise  of  smiles,  a  home  of  love;  while 
the  rugged  face  of  industry,  imbrowned  by  toil,  is  dull  and 
repulsive;  but  at  the  end  it  is  not  so.  These  are  harlot 
charms  which  pleasure  wears.  At  last,  when  industry  shall 
put  on  her  beautiful  garments,  and  rest  in  the  palace 
which  her  own  hands  have  built,  pleasure,  blotched  and 
diseased  with  indulgence,  shall  lie  down  and  die  upon  the 
dung-hill.  — BEECHER. 


ADVICE    TO  YOUNG  CHRISTIANS. 

Now  we  want  these  young  converts  to  serve  Christ.  It 
is  not  too  much  to  expect  that  each  of  you  should  bring 
twelve  more.  One  young  man  came  to  me  and  said  he  was 
converted  on  the  3d  of  February;  he  had  a  list  of  fifty-nine 
persons,  with  the  residence  of  each,  whom  he  had  since 
that  time  been  instrumental  in  leading  to  Christ;  and  if 
that  young  convert  had  led  fifty-nine,  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  ought  to  be  able  to  reach  some.  Let  each  one  go 
to  work.  That  is  the  way  to  grow  in  strength.  "They 
that  water  others  shall  themselves  be  watered,  and  the 
liberal  soul  shall  be  fed.  God  is  able  to  make  all  grace 
abound."  Let  me  give  you  a  little  advice.  Let  your 
friends  be  those  who  are  in  the  church.  Select  for  your 
companions  experienced  Christians.  Keep  company  with 
those  who  know  a  little  more  than  you  do  yourselves.  Of 
course,  you  get  the  best  of  the  bargain;  but  from  my  own 
experience  I  know  it  is  the  best  way  to  make  advances  in 
religious  life.  And  get  in  love  with  the  Book,  and  the 
world  will  lose  its  hold  on  you. — MOODY. 

An  address  to  converts  at  the  close  of  a  great  revival  in  New  York. 


YOUTH.  289 

INFLUENCE  OF  A  MOTHER  ON  YOUTH. 

Take  the  history  of  Rehaboam.  There  is,  in  his  life,  just 
one  short  sentence  which  supplies  the  key,  more  perhaps 
than  anything  else,  to  his  sin  and  folly, — "his  mother's 
name  was  Naamah,  an  Ammonitess."  She  was  by  blood 
an  alien,  and  by  religion  a  heathen.  Unhappy  in  many 
things,  but  unhappiest  most  in  such  a  mother,  he  begins  to 
be  regarded  more  with  pity  than  with  astonishment.  The 
letters  written  on  water  are  hardly  formed  when  they  are 
filled  up;  on  the  other  hand  the  finger  that  traces  them  on 
stone  leaves  no  visible  impression  on  its  indurated  service; 
but  plastic  clay,  midway  between  what  is  hard  and  soft, 
offers  to  the  gentlest  finger  a  substance  which  both  receives 
and  retains  an  impression.  Such  is  the  heart  that  youth 
and  childhood  offer  to  a  mother's  influence.  Hear  how 
Cowper  sings  of  the  boy  by  a  mother's  knee.— 

"  His  heart,  now  passive,  yields  to  thy  command, 
Secure  it  thine,  its  key  is  in  thine  hand." 

— GUTHRIE. 


DR.  TALM AGE'S  GREAT  SERMON  ON 
"HOME." 


"Let  them  learn  first  to  show  piety  at  home.'1'' — I    Tim.  v:  4. 

In  the  summer  months  the  tendency  is  to  the  fields,  to 
visitation,  to  foreign  travel,  and  the  watering  places,  and 
the  ocean  steamers  are  thronged.  But  at  this  season  of 
the  year  the  tendency  is  to  gather  in  the  domestic  circles, 
and  much  of  our  life  for  months  must  be  spent  in-doors. 
My  text  enjoins  upon  us  Christian  behavior  amid  such  sur- 
roundings. How  many  are  longing  for  grand  spheres  in 
which  to  serve  God  ?  They  admire  Luther  at  the  Diet  of 
Worms,  and  wish  they  had  some  such  daring  opportunity 
in  which  to  exhibit  Christian  character,  and  are  only  wait- 
ing an  opportunity  in  which  to  display  their  Christian  prow- 
ess. Now,  the  apostles  comes  to  such  persons  in  my  text  and 
says:  "I  will  show  you  a  place  where  you  can  exhibit  all 
that  is  grand  and  beautiful  and  glorious  in  the  Christian 
character,  and  that  place  is  the  domestic  circle. "  '  'Let  them 
learn  first  to  show  piety  at  home."  Indeed,  if  a  man  does 
not  serve  God  on  a  small  scale,  he  never  will  serve  him  on 
a  large  scale.  If  Peter  is  not  willing  to  help  the  cripple  at 
the  gate,  he  will  not  be  able  to  preach  3,000  souls  into  the 
kingdom  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  If  Paul  will  not  stop 
to  instruct  the  keeper  of  the  Phillipian  dungeon,  he  will 
not  be  able  to  make  Felix  tremble.  Faithfulness  in  small 
affairs  is  a  prophecy  of  faithfulness  in  large  affairs.  There 
is  one  word  in  my  text  around  which  all  our  thoughts  this 
morning  will  revolve.  Home  ! 

290 


DR.  TALAMGE  ON  "HOME."  -29  / 

The  home,  in  the  first  place,  is  the  most  powerful  test  of 
one's  character.  A  man's  disposition  in  public  may  be  of 
gay  costume,  while  in  private  it  is  en  dishabille..  The  play 
actor  does  differently  on  the  platform  from  the  way  he  does 
behind  the  scenes.  Public  life  is  often  a  very  different 
thing  from  private  life.  A  man  will  receive  you  in  his  par- 
lor with  so  much  gracefulness  that  he  seems  to  be  the  dis- 
tillation of  smiles,  while  in  his  heart  there  is  a  swamp  of 
nettle.  Men  will  sometimes  in  business  life  all  day  long 
be  courteous  and  good  natured,  damming  back  their  irri- 
tability and  their  petulance  and  their  discontent,  but  at 
nightfall  the  dam  breaks,  and  scolding  pours  forth  in  floods 
and  freshets.  The  wind  sometimes  rises  at  sunset,  and 
in  summery  days 

THERE   MAY  BE   TEMPESTUOUS  NIGHTS. 

Anger  does  not  like  to  display  itself  among  the  men  who 
excite  it,  but  sometimes  in  cowardly  manner  comes  home 
and  drops  itself  on  the  domestic  circle.  Private  life  is 
often  public  life  turned  wrong-side  out.  The  lips  that 
dropped  with  myrrh  and  cassia,  the  disposition  that  seems 
to  be  warm  and  bright  as  a  sheaf  of  sunbeams,  may  only 
be  a  magnificent  show  window  to  a  wretched  stock  of 
goods.  The  harp  that  all  day  sang  like  an  angel  may  at 
nio-ht  grate  like  a  saw.  Such  persons  do  not  understand 
the  precept  of  my  text.  They  do  not  show  piety  at  home. 
In  the  home  we  reveal  our  real  character.  Reputation  is 
only  the  shadow  of  character,  and  you  know  a  small  hmisf 
will  sometimes  cast  a  very  long  shadow.  Men  do  not  like 
to  exhibit  their  badness  in  public  for  the  same  reason  that 
they  do  not  like  their  note  to  go  to  protest- --it  does  not 
pay;  or  for  the  same  reason  that  they  do  not  want  men  in 
their  stock  company  to  sell  at  too  low  a  rate,  for  it  will  de- 
preciate the  value.  There  are  men  who  do  not  exhibit 


292  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

their  bad  temper  in  public  for  the  simple  reason  that  they 
do  not  want  to  be  knocked  down  !  There  are  those  who 
are  philanthropists  in  public  life,  who  in  homes  are  the 
Xero  with  respect  to  their  slippers  and  their  gown.  Audu- 
bon,  the  great  ornithologist,  with  gun  and  pencil  went  all 
through  the  forests  of  this  country  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  down  and  sketching  the  bird  of  the  land;  then 
went  home,  put  the  valuable  documents  in  a  trunk,  and, 
after  an  absence, .found  that  the  rats  had  completely  de- 
voured the  manuscript,  so  that  again  he  took  gun  and  pen- 
cil and  again  went  through  the  forests  of  the  land,  repro- 
ducing that  which  Avas  destroyed,  while  there  are  many  in 
private  life,  at  the  loss  of  a  pencil  or  an  article  of  clothing 
will  act  as  though  they  had  met  with  an  irreparable  loss, 
and  will  blow  sharp  and  loud  and  long  as  a  northeast 
storm.  If  a  man  make  pretensions  to  kindness  and  gen- 
tleness in  public  where  there  is  none  in  his  heart,  he  is 
making  a  fraudulent  over-issue  of  stock,  and  is  as  unright- 
eous as  a  bank  with  three  or  four  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars of  bills  in  circulation  but  no  specie  in  the  safe.  Let 
us  learn  to  show  piety  at  home.  If  we  do  not  there  ex- 
hibit Christian  character,  it  is  because  there  is  no  grace 
and  genuineness  of  character  in  our  soul,  and  our  outward 
plausibility  of  behavior  only  springs  from  fear  of  the 
world,  and  the  slimy,  putrid  pool  of  our  own  selfishness. 
Home  is  the  mightiest  of  all  tests  of  a  man's  character. 
Again,  I  remark  that 

HOME   IS   A   REFUGE. 

Life  is  the  United  States  army  on  the  national  road  to 
Mexico,  with  a  long  march,  and  ever  and  anon  a  skirmish 
and  a  battle.  The  home  is  the  tent  we  pitch  to  rest  in,  our 
bayonets  stacked,  our  war-caps  hung  up,  our  heads  resting 
on  the  knapsack  until  the  morning  bugle  sounds,  warning 


DR.  TA IMAGE  ON  "HOME."  293 

us  to  strike  tent  and  prepare  for  marching  and  action.  Oh, 
what  a  pleasant  place  it  is  to  talk  over  the  day's  victories 
and  surprises  and  attacks,  seated  by  the  still  camp-fires  of 
the  domestic  circle.     Life  is  a  stormy  sea.     With  shivered 
mast  and  torn  sail  and  hulk  aleak  we  put  into  the  harbor 
of  Home.    Into  this  dry  dock  we  come  for  repair.    Blessed 
harbor  !     The  candle  in  the  window  is  to  the  laboring  man 
the  lighthouse  guiding  him  into  port.     Children  come  out 
to  meet  their  fathers  as  in  the  "Narrows"  pilots  take  the 
hand  of  ships.     The  door-sill  is  the  wharf  where  heavy  life 
is  unladen.     In  the  home  we  may  talk  of  what  we  have 
done  without  being  charged  with  self-adulation.     "We  may 
lounge  without  being  thought  ungraceful.      We  may  ex- 
press affection  without  being  thought  silly.     We  may  ex- 
press our  thoughts  without  being  considered  uncultivated. 
Forlorn  earth  pilgrim  !     No  home  !     Then  die.     That  is 
better.     The  grave  is  brighter  and  warmer  than  this  world 
without  a  tont  from  marching,  without  a  harbor  from  the 
storm,  without  a  home  in  this  scene  of  greed  and  gouge 
and  loss  and  gain.     May  God  pity  the  poor,  miserable 
wretch  who  has  no  home  ! 

Again  I  remark  that  the  home  is  a  political  safeguard. 
The  safety  of  the  State  depends  upon  the  character  of  the 
home.  Why  can  not  France  have  a  placid  republic  ?  Mac- 
Mahon  appoints  a  ministry  that  sets  all  France  aquake  lest 
the  republic  be  smothered.  Gambetta  dies,  and  multitudes 
of  Frenchmen  fear  the  return  of  monarchy  !  France  has 
no  home  on  which  to  build.  The  Christian  hearthstone  is 
the  only  foundation  for  a  republic.  In  the -family  virtues 
are  cultured  which  are  a  necessity  for  the  State;  and,  if 
there  be  not  enough  moral  principle  to  make  the  family 
adhere,  there  can  not  bo  enough  political  principle  to  make 
the  Siato  adhere.  No  home,  no  free  institution.  No  home 
makes  a  nation  of  Goths  and  Vandals;  makes  the  Nomads 


GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

of  Central  Asia;  makes  the  Numidians  of  Africa,  changing 
from  month  to  month  and  from  place  to  place  as  the  pas- 
ture happens  to  change. 

CONFOUNDED   BE   ALL  THOSE   MODERN   BABELS 

That  propose  to  overtop  and  destroy  the  family  institu- 
tion !  The  family  institution  is  the  foundation  of  the  right 
kind  of  civil  government.  The  same  storm  that  upsets  the 
boat  in  which  the  family  sails  will  sink  the  frigate  of  the 
Constitution.  Jails,  penitentiaries,  armies,  navies,  are  not 
our  chief  defences.  The  door  of  the  home  is  the  best  for- 
tress, household  utensils  are  our  artillery,  and  the  chim- 
neys of  our  homes  are  the  monuments  of  safety  and  tri- 
umph. No  home,  no  republic. 

I  go  further,  and  speak  of  home  as  a  school.  Old 
ground  must  be  upturned  by  a  subsoil  plough,  and  re- 
harrowed,  and  then  it  will  not  yield  as  good  a  crop  as  new 
ground  with  less  culture.  Now,  infancy  and  childhood  are 
new  ground,  and  all  that  is  scattered  over  that  ground 
yields  luxuriantly.  All  the  smiles  you  have  ever  shown 
upon  your  children  will  be  preserved  in  their  disposition. 
All  your  ebulitions  of  anger;  all  your  frowns  of  indigna- 
tion in  the  presence  of  your  child,  will  be  kept  as  fuel  in 
his  temper,  and  in  after  years,  when  the  storms  of  life  blow 
upon  that  soul,  that  temper  will  begin  to  flash  and  to  glow 
with  your  wrath  and  your  indignation — they  being  fuel 
added  to  that  bad  fire.  Your  expression  in  regard  to  the 
child's  intelligence  in  his  presence,  when  you  had  no  idea 
that  he  knew  enough  to  understand  what  you  were 
talking  about,  will  show  itself  before  he  is  ten  years 
of  age  in  annoying  affectation.  Your  remark  in  regard 
to  his  beauty  will  result  in  your  finding  some  day 
that  he  is  standing  on  a  high  chair  in  front  of  the 
flattering  mirror.  Deeds  and  words  and  examples  are  the 


DR.  TALMA  GE  ON " HOME ."  295 

seed  of  character,  and  children  are  generally  the  second 
edition  of  their  parents;  but  the  second  edition  is  not  al- 
ways an  improvement  and  correction  of  the  first  edition. 
Oh,  how  important  it  is  that  the  teachers  in  this  homo 
school  should  feel  their  responsibility.  Make  your  home 
the  brightest  place  on  earth  if  you  would  charm  your  chil- 
dren into  the  high  path  of  rectitude  and  religion.  Do  not 
always  have  the  blinds  turned  the  wrong  way.  Let  God'> 
light  that  puts  gold  on  the  gentian  and  spots  the  pansv 
stream  into  your  windows.  Do  not  expect  your  children  to 

KEEP   STEP  TO   A   DEAD   MARCH. 

Do  not  cover  up  your  walls  with  West's  "Death  on  a 
Pale  Horse"  and  Tinteret's  "Massacre  of  the  Innocents  :" 
but  rather  let  there  be  on  your  walls  some  simpler  pic- 
tures—"The  Hawking  Party,"    "The   Old   Mill  by  the 
Mountain   Stream,"   "The    Fox    Hunt,"    "The   Ilarv^t 
Scene,"   "The  Children   Amid   Flowers"  and   "Saturday 
Night  Marketing."    Get  you   no  lesson  of  cheerful  i. 
from  grasshoppers'  leap  and  lambs1  frisk,   and  squirrels' 
chatter  and  quails'  whistle  and  garrulous  streamlet  which, 
from  the  rock  on  the  mountain  top  to  the  meadow-fern  un- 
der the  shadow  of  the  steep,  comes  looking  for  the  st<-epe>t 
place  to  leap  off  at,  and  talkingjust  for  the  sake  of  hearing 
itself  talk  !     If  all  the  skies  hurtled  in  thunder  tempi 
and  storms  perpetually  wandered  acro.-s  the  .sea.  and  al| 
the  streams  were  raving  mad,  frothing  at  the  mouth  with 
mud  foam,  and  there   were  eternal  simoons    throbbing 
among  the  hills,  and  the  world  had  neither  lark's  carol  nor 
humming-bird's  trill,  nor  waterfall's  dash,  but  only  bear'- 
bark  and  panther's  scream   and   wolfs  howl — then  you 
would  do  well  to  bother  and  plague  yourself  all  through 
life,  gathering  around  you  only  the  shadows;  but  win -M 
God  has  strewn  our  path  with  so  many  blessings,  it  is  high 


296  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

time  we  took  into  our  homes  more  of  the  brightness,  more 
of  the  innocent  hilarity,  more  of  the  good  cheer.  A  dark 
home  makes  bad  boys  and  bad  girls,  to  be  bad  men  and 
bad  women.  Above  all  take  into  your  home  thorough 
Christian  principles.  Can  it  be  that  in  any  of  the  comfort- 
able homes  of  my  congregation  that  prayer  is  never  heard? 
It  is  a  pointed  question  to  ask,  and  therefore  I  ask  it.  At 
night  is  there  no  petition  for  protection?  In  the  morning 
is  there  no  thanksgiving  for  care?  Are  you  raising  your 
children  Avithout  any  inculcation  of  Christian  principles? 
How  will  you  feel  at  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ  when  you 
are  caHed  to  answer  for  your  parental  neglect.  In  the  tenth 
chapter  of  Jeremiah  is  the  startling  prediction  that 

GOD  WILL  POUR  OUT  HIS  FURY 

Upon  the  families  that  call  not  upon  the  Lord.  O!  parents, 
when  you  are  under  ground  and  the  moss  has  covered  the 
inscription  on  your  tomb,  will  your  children  look  back  to 
a  good  Christian  home  and  a  father  and  mother  at  morn- 
ing and  evening  prayer  ?  Will  they  have  the  everlasting 
impression  of  such  a  scene  ?  As  they  take  up  the  old  Bible 
will  they  see-  in  that  family  Bible  the  marks  of  tears  of 
contrition,  tears  of  consoling  promise,  wept  by  eyes  long 
years  gone  into  darkness  ?  Oh,  if  you  train  up  your  chil- 
dren without  any  inculcation  of  Christian  sentiment,  with- 
out warning  them  against  evil,  without  inviting  them  to 
holiness  and  to  God,  and  they  go  off  afterward  into  lives  of 
dissipation  and  infidelity  and  make  shipwreck  of  their  mor- 
tal interests — on  their  death-bed  and  at  the  judgment  they 
will  curse  you.  Seated  at  the  register  or  stove  at  night, 
your  chiMivn  around  you,  how  if.  in  startling  character, 
there  should  come  out  on  the  wall  the  history  of  all  your 
loved  ones?  What  a  history  1  The  mortal  and  immortal 
history  of  your  children.  Every  parent  with  liia  h.-md  is 


DR.   TA IMAGE  ON   'HOME."  297 

writing  out  the  history  of  his  children,  composing  it  into  a 
song,  or  pointing  it  with  a  groan.  My  mind  runs  back  to 
one  of  the  best  of  early  homes.  Prayer  like  a  roof  over 
it,  peace  like  an  atmosphere  in  it ;  parents  the  personifica- 
tion of  faith  in  trial,  and  hope  in  darkness.  The  two  pil- 
lars of  that  home  years  ago  fell  into  dust,  but  shall  I  ever 
forget  that  home?  Yes;  when  the  flower  forgets  the  sun 
that  warmed  it.  Yes;  when  the  mariner  forgets  the  star 
that  guided  him.  Yes;  when  love  dies  on  the  heart's  altar 
and  memory  empties  its  urn  into  forgetfulness.  Then, 
home  of  my  childhood,  I  will  forget  thee — the  family  altar 
of  a  Cher's  importunity  and  a  mother's  weepiiig,  the 
voices  of  affection,  the  funerals  of  our  dead,  the  Sabbath 
twii.ghts  which  were  the  pearly  shores  of  Sabbath  days, 
father  and  mother  with  interlocked  arms,  like  entwining 
branches  of  trees,  making  a  perpetual  bower  of  love  and 
peace — not  till  then,  home  of  my  childhood,  will  I  forget 
thee. 

Once  more  I  want  to  speak  of 

HOME   AS  A  TYPE   OP  HEAVEN. 

At  the  best  estate,  my  friends,  \\e  are  only  pilgrims  and 
strangers;  Heaven  is  to  be  eternal  hcme.  Death  will  never 
knock  at  the  door  of  that  mansion,  and  in  all  that  land 
there  will  not  be  a  single  grave.  Aged  parents  rejoice 
very  much  when  on  Christinas  day  they  have  their  chil- 
dren at  home,  but  there  is  almost  always  a  son  or  daughter 
absent— absent  from  the  country,  perhaps  absent  from  the 
world.  But  oh,  how  our  Heavenly  Father  will  rejoice  in 
the  long  thanksgiving  day  of  Heaven  when  He  has  all  His 
children  with  Him  in  glory  !  How  glad  brothers  and  sis- 
ters will  be  to  meet  after  so  long  a  separation?  Perhaps  a 
score  of  years  ago  they  parted  at  the  door  of  the  tomb. 
Now  they  meet  again  at  the  door  of  immortality.  Once 
they  looked  through  a  -la^  darkly.  Now  face  to  face,  cor- 


298  GEMS  OF  TRUTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

ruption,  incorruption — mortality,  immortality.  Where  are 
no\v  all  their  sorrows  and  temptations  and  trials?  Over- 
whelmed in  the  Red  Sea  of  death,  while  they,  dry-shod, 
marched  into  glory.  Gates  of  jasper,  capstone  of  ame- 
thyst, thrones  of  dominion  do  not  so  much  affect  my  soul 
so  much  as  the  thought  of  home.  Once  there,  let  earthly 
sorrows  howl  like  storms  and  roll  like  seas.  Home!  Let 
thrones  rot  and  empires  wither!  Home!  Let  the  world 
die  in  earthquake  struggles  and  be  buried  amid  procession 
of  planets  and  dirge  of  spheres.  Home!  Let  everlasting 
ages  roll  in  irresistible  sweep!  Home!  No  sorrow,  no 
crying,  no  tears,  no  death;  but  home!  Sweet  home!  Beau- 
tiful home!  Glorious  home!  Everlasting  home!  Home 
with  each  other!  Home  with  angels!  Home  with  God! 
Home! 

One  twilight  after  1  had  been  playing  with  the  children 
for  some  time,  I  laid  down  on  the  lounge  to  rest.  The 
children  said:  ''Play  more!''  Children  always  want  to  play 
more.  And,  half  asleep  and  half  awake  I  seemed  to  dream 
this  dream.  It  seemed  to  me  that 

I    WAS   IX    A   FAR   DISTANT   LAND — 

not  Persia,  although  more  than  Oriental  luxuriance  crowned 
the  cities;  nor  the  tropics — although  more  than  tropical 
fruitfulness  filled  the  gardens;  nor  Italy — although  more 
than  Italian  softness  filled  the  air.  And  I  wandered  around 
looking  for  thorns  and  nettles,  but  I  found  none  of  them 
grew  there.  And  I  walked  forth,  and  I  saw  the  sun  rise, 
and  I  said:  "When  will  it  set  again?"  And  the  sun  sank 
not.  And  I  saw  all  the  people  in  holiday  apparel,  and  I 
said:  "When  will  they  put  on  workingman's  garb  again 
and  delve  in  the  mine  and  swelter  at  the  fonje?"  But 

D 

neither  the  garments  nor  the  robes  did  they  put  off.  And 
I  wandered  in  the  suburbs,  and  I  said:  "Where  do  they 


DR.   TALMA GE  ON  "HOME."  3«9 

bury  the  dead  of  this  great  city?''  And  I  looked  along  by 
the  hills  where  it  would  be  most  beautiful  for  the  dead  to 
sleep,  and  I  saw  castles  and  towns  and  battlements,  but 
not  a  mausoleum,  nor  monument,  nor  white  slab  could  I 
see.  And  I  went  into  the  great  chapel  of  the  town,  and  I 
said:  "Where  do  the  poor  worship;  where  are  the  benches 
on  which  they  sit?""  And  a  voice  answered:  "Wo  have  no 
poor  in  this  great  city."  And  I  wandered  out,  seeking  to 
find  the  place  where  were  the  hovels  of  the  destitute,  and  I 
found  mansions  of  amber  and  ivory  and  gold,  but  no  tear 
did  I  see  or  sigh  hear.  I  was  bewildered,  and  I  sat  under 
the  shadow  of  a  great  tree,  and  I  said,  "What  am  I,  and 
whence  comes  all  this?"  And  at  that  moment  there  came 
from  among  the  leaves,  skipping  up  the  flowery  paths  and 
across  the  sparkling  waters  a  very  bright  and  sparkling 
group;  and  when  I  saw  their  step  I  knew  it,  and  when  I 
heard  their  voices  I  thought  I  knew  them ;  but  their  appa- 
rel was  so  different  from  anything  I  had  ever  seen,  I  bowed. 
a  stranger  to  strangers.  But  after  awhile,  when  they 
clapped  their  hands  and  shouted,  "Welcome!  welcome!" 
the  mystery  was  solved,  and  I  saw  that  time  had  passed 
and  that  eternity  had  come,  and  that  God  had  gathered  us 
up  into  a  higher  home;  and  I  said:  "Are  we  all  here;"'  and 
the  voices  of  innumerable  generations  answered:  "All 
here;'' and  while  tears  of  gladness  were  raining  down  our 
cheeks  and  the  branches  of  the  Lebanon  cedars  were  clap 
ping  their  hands,  and  the  towers  of  the  great  city  were 
chiming  their  welcome,  we  began  to  laugh  and  sing  and 
leap  and  shout,  "Home!  home!  home!" 


Directions  for  Using   the   Audiphone,  and    for 
Teaching  the  Deaf  to  Speak. 


SINCE  no  amount  of  use  will  improve  the  sense  of  hear- 
ing, it  is  essential  that  one  learning  to  speak  should  im- 
prove it  mechanically  at  once,  and  be  provided  at  all 
times  with  a  device  for  the  improvement  of  this  sense, 
and  never  fail  to  use  it  when  there  is  a  sound  to  be  heard, 
as  it  is  the  perceptions  of  the  deaf  which  will  be  improved 
by  practice  and  not  the  sense  of  hearing;  sounds  con- 
veyed must  be  distinct  to  enable  them  to  do  this  readily. 

Teaching   to   Hear. 

I  have  noticed  in  the  reports  of  several  institutions, 
"  Teaching  to  Hear."  We  hear  with  our  sense;  we  per- 
ceive with  our  understanding.  We  cannot  bestow  a 
sense,  but  we  may  improve  our  understanding.  We  can- 
not teach  a  sense;  we  cannot  teach  to  hear.  But,  hear- 
ing, we  may  teach  to  understand;  we  may  teach  through 
our  senses.  The  sense  of  hearing  existing,  it  may  be 
appealed  to  to  improve  the  mind  or  understanding.  It 
may  be  improved  mechanically  to  enable  us  the  more 
readily  to  do  this.  But  no  amount  of  use  will  improve 
the  sense  of  hearing  or  any  other  sense  we  possess.  My 
own  sense  of  hearing  is  about  seven  per  cent,  poorer  now 


32  THE    AUDIPHONE. 

than  it  was  fifteen  years  ago,  but  my  ability  to  under- 
stand is  fifty  per  cent,  greater,  which  shows  that  I  have 
not  taught  myself  to  hear,  or  improved  my  sense  of 
hearing  by  use,  but  that  I  have  taught  myself,  through 
the  sense  of  hearing,  the  better  to  understand. 

Hearing  Their  Own  Voice. — It  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  that  the  deaf  should  hear  their  own  voice, 
which  they  may  do  either  by  closing  their  .teeth  firmly 
and  speaking,  or  by  speaking  against  an  audiphone  prop- 
erly adjusted  against  their  teeth.  They  should  then  be 
encouraged  to  make  sounds  for  themselves,  to  hear  and 

| 

to  speak  words  as  soon  as  possible,  and  to  continue  to 
do  this.  Children  of  perfect  hearing  are  prattling  most 
of  the  day  while  at  play.  We  should  try  to  have  the 
deaf  use  their  voices  as  much  as  hearing  children,  to  ena- 
ble them  to  learn  to  control  it.  -To  accomplish  this  they 
should  be  required  to  study  aloud  most  of  the  day,  either 
by  speaking  with  their  teeth  closed,  or  with  an  audiphone 
adjusted  to  the  teeth.  The  teacher  will  then  have  but  little 
more  labor  than  the  teacher  of  hearing  children,  as  she 
will  be  required  only  to  correct  their  pronunciation.  As 
soon  as  they  have  learned  to  read,  they  may  read  aloud 
with  their  teeth  closed,  or  with  the  audiphone  adjusted  to 
their  teeth,  so  as  to  reconvey  to  them  the  sound  of  their 
own  voice.  By  requiring  them  to  do  this  much  of  their 
time,  they  will  soon  acquire  correct  pronunciation  with 
but  little  labor  on  the  part  of  the  teacher. 

Those  who  have  been  taught  to  speak  hy  the 
oral  method  may  at  once  commence  reading  aloud  in 
this  way,  and  will  very  soon  strengthen  and  improve  their 
voices.  This  may  be  done  in  cases  where  they  have  but  one 
per  cent,  of  hearing  only.  Practice  is  the  one  thing  essen- 


HEARING  THROUGH  THE  TEETH.  33 

tial  to  success;  the  more  they  practice  in  this  way,  the 
sooner  will  they  acquire  a  well-modulated  voice. 

Reading  Aloud  to  Each  Other.— As  soon  as  prac- 
ticable, they  may  read  aloud  to  each  other,  the  listeners, 
with  the  audiphone  adjusted  to  their  teeth,  looking  on  a 
duplicate  book;  and  they  will  be  surprised  to  note  how 
readily  they  will  hear  the  words  spoken  when  the)'  see 
them  in  a  duplicate  book.  It  is  well  for  the  teacher  or 
one  having  correct  pronunciation  to  read  to  a  class  in 
this  way. 

Use  the  Eyes  as  Well  as  Ears. — persons  with 
perfect  hearing  do  not  look  away  from  the  speaker; 
neither  should  one  of  defective  hearing.  Do  not  try  to 
have  them  distinguish  sounds  too  soon  by  the  ear  alone, 
as  would  be  the  case  if  they  looked  away  from  the 
speaker,  except  from  a  duplicate  book  as  above.  It  is  time 
enough  to  do  this  when  one  is  able  to  understand  readily 
everything  said  by  the  use  of  both  the  eye  and  ear. 

To  all  those  who  are  classed  as  hard-of-hear- 
ing,  yet  who  understand  language  when  heard, 
the  audiphone  is  an  inestimable  boon,  and  by  them  it  is 
in  use  in  every  civilized  country  in  the  world.  They  can 
it  to  advantage  at  once,  because  they  understand  at 
once  what  they  hear,  while  the  speechless  deaf,  though 
they  hear,  do  not  understand  what  the  sounds  that  reach 
them  mean.  Those  who  are  but  slightly  deaf  will  not 
ive  as  much  benefit  as  those  who  are  more  deaf,  but  all 
who  find  trouble  in  understanding  ordinary  conversation, 
and  who  have  some  degree  of  hearing  remaining,  and 
who  have  natural  upper  teeth,  or  a  very  firmly  fitting  set 
of  false  upper  teeth,  may  use  it  with  comfort,  both  to 


34  THE    AUDIPHONE. 

themselves  and  to  those  who  would  converse  with  them. 
The  deaf  will  be  surprised  to  note  how  much  more  peo- 
ple will  have  to  say  to  them  iif  they  provide  themselves 
with  an  audiphone,  and  render  it  easy  for  those  who  con- 
verse with  them.  It  is  a  duty  they  owe  quite  as  much  to 
those  who  are  obliged  to  talk  with  them  as  to  themselves. 

Instructions  for  Using  the  Audiphone. 

To  adjust  the  audiphone  for  use,  draw  down  the  silken 
cord  until  the  audiphone  is  curved  slightly,  and  then 
push  up  the  small  ring  which  is  on  the  handle  until  it 
tightens  on  the  cord,  and  fastens  it  in  this  curved  posi- 
tion. 

> 

Holding  it  by  the  handle  in  this  position,  place  its 
upper  edge  against  one  or  more  of  the  upper  teeth.  An 
' '  eye-tooth  "  is  generally  the  best.  Do  not  press  it  against 
the  teeth,  but  let  it  rest  lightly  against  them,  else  you  will 
make  your  teeth  sore,  and  you  will  hear  better  to  hold  it 
very  loosely  in  your  hand,  and  let  it  rest  very  gently 
against  the  teeth. 

Some  persons  hear  better  with  the  audiphone  but 
slightly  curved,  while  others  require  it  curved  to  a  greater 
degree.  Experiment  with  it  in  this  matter  for  the  best 
curved  position  until  you  get  that  curved  position  of  the 
audiphone  which  gives  you  the  greatest  sound.  In  this 
respect  the  audiphone  is  adjusted  to  suit  sound  sonu- 
what  as  an  opera-glass  is  adjusted  to  suit  distance. 

Gentlemen  may  carry  the  audiphone  conveniently 
by  fixing  the  cord  over  the  collar-button  at  tin.-  bark  <>t 
their  neck  and  slipping  it  under  their  eoat  under  their 
left  arm,  leaving  the  audiphone.  strained.  In  this  way 
the  weight  of  tin;  coat  will  k.-cp  the  instrument  concealed, 
and  they  will  find  it  very  convenient  to  use. 


HEARING  THROUGH  THE  TEETH.  35 

Ladies  may  carry  the  audiphone  by  throwing  the 
cord  over  their  neck,  concealing  it  when  wearing  an  over- 
garment, or  they  may  carry  it  as  they  would  a  fan,  for 
which  it  may  be  used  when  desired. 

Persons  who  have  been  very  deaf  for  many 
s,  and  who  are  accustomed,  wholly -or  in  part,  to  in- 
terpret sound  by  the  movement  of  the  lips  of  the  party 
speaking,  may  not  readily  distinguish  the  words  of  the 
speaker  when  first  using  the  audiphone,  though  the 
sound  of  these  words  will  be  heard.  In  all  such  cases  a 
little  practice  will  be  required. 

Persons  having  false  teeth,  if  they  fit  firmly-,  can, 
notwithstanding,  use  the  audiphone  successfully. 

Persons  using  such  instruments  as  ear  trump. 
ets,  which  in  all  cases  increase  the  deafness  by  concen- 
trating an  unnatural  force  and  volume  of  sound  upon  the 
impaired  organ,  should  at  once  lay  aside  all  such  devices 
on  receiving  the  audiphone.  Such  persons,  thus 
accustomed  to  the  unnatural  sound,  through  the  ear 
trumpet,  will  require  some  practice  to  again  familiarize 
themselves  with  the  natural  sound  of  the  human  voice 
which  the  audiphone  always  conveys. 


36"  THE    AUDIPHOXE. 

Styles  and  Colors  of  the  Audiphone  for  Ladies. 


THE  Audiphone  is  made  much  in  the  shape  of  a  fan, 
and  for  ladies  in  nearly  any  color  to  match  the  color  of 
the  costume  worn.  Ladies  may  use  it  as  they  would  a 
fan,  casually  placing  it  against  the  teeth  when  listening; 
their  infirmity  will  hardly  be  noticed  by  a  stranger.  The 
instrument  is  very  handsome;  any  lady  might  be  pleased 
to  have  so  handsome  "$.  fan  whether  deaf  or  not. 
.  .  .  COLORS.  .  .  . 

Colorless  Transparent 

Amber  "         " 

Blue,  TWO  Shades  Transparent     - 

Green,  Two      " 

Purple,  "    - 

Cardinal  Red  " 

White,    "Ivory  Finish"  Opaque 

Cream,          "  " 

Pink,  Three  Shades 

Lilac, 

Drab,       " 

Yellow,    " 

Green  (the  New  Shades),  Two  Shades  Opaque 

Blue,  Three  Shades  Opaque    - 

Cardinal  Red  "     - 

Tortoise  Shell  " 

Marbleized  Gray,  two  Shades  Opaque    • 

Red 
"  Brown  " 

Black  Opaque 


HEARING  THROUGH  THE  TEETH.  37 

Styles  and  Colors  of  the  Audiphone  for 
Gentlemen. 


GENTLEMEN  prefer  the — 

Colorless  Transparent  (Almost  Invisible) 

Amber  "         " 

Black  Opaque   - 

Tortoise    "  - 

The    favorites    with    gentlemen    being    the     colorless 
transparent  and  the  black. 


School    Style. 


WE   manufacture  an   instrument  adapted   for   use    in 
schools   for  the   deaf,    and   solicit    correspondence    with 
instructors  of  the  deaf,  to  whom  all  information  in  rela- 
tion to  this  instrument  will  be  cheerfully  furnished. 
•    •   -PRICE..   •   . 

Conversational  Size  (Any  Color) $3.00 

Extra  Large,  for  very  Deaf  People  to  use 

at  Church,  Concerts,  etc 5.00 


by  mail  post-paid  to  any  address  on  receipt 
of  price. 

ADDRESS 
AGENTS  FOR  THE  WORLD, 

RHODES  &  M^CLURE  PUBLISHING  Co., 
93  Washington  St., 

CHICAGO,  ILL.,  U.  S.  A. 
AUDIPHONE, 

CHICAGO. 


